Windmills and the Holy Spirit ...

I confess. This image for the Holy Spirit is not mine. I heard it at a Catholic church in Llano, TX, after a weekend of hunting. The only thing I caught that weekend was a great image for the Holy Spirit working through us. No deer.

The image came in a sermon on the Baptism of our Lord. The preacher made his connection of Jesus' baptism to our own. He reaffirmed that in our baptisms the Holy Spirit dwells with us. And then he went on to say ...

We are like windmills. Without the wind, we don't do anything. But with the wind, we move. And as the wind blows, we draw up water from deep down. The Holy Spirit is God's wind which draws up the gifts we're given in baptism.

I love the image of drawing up gifts from deep down within us, and how that action is solely God's action. We don't make the windmill turn. We don't make the wind blow. God does, and stored deep within us, by God's providence, are gifts needed for life in this world.