Via Creativa: Colors of the Wind

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
(Stephen Schwartz, from “Pocahontas”)

OK, OK, it’s a Disney song. But a damn good Disney song. Suck it up. “Colors of the Wind” is a Grammy-award winning song from the 1995 Disney film, “Pocahontas.” It’s one of many brilliant songs to come from the world of Disney. And like so many of Disney’s themes, the song acknowledges, honors and celebrates the diversity of our planet and of life, in general.
I had a conversation recently with a woman who worked for NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration) (No wonder they have an acronym). I told her I pitied weather forecasters because everyone makes fun of them. She said that being a weather forecaster was a spiritual discipline. She said that it teaches you 1) you’re never in control; 2) no one knows it all; 3) you’ll never be happy if you take yourself too seriously. She also said, “Finally, weather is all about the jet streams.”

Jet streams. Those narrow rivers of wind that ripple, swell, heave and undulate across the planet. Most of them are thousands of miles long, hundreds of miles wide and 1-3 miles deep. These jet streams scoot their windy butts around the globe at speeds of 50 - 400 mph. These sometimes wildly convulsive wind currents tote moisture, heat, cold and whatever industrial funk happens to be pluming into the skies. Ruach is the Hebrew word for breath, wind and spirit. In Hebrew scriptures, Ruach is one of the names for God. One of the ways that The Holy One presents itself. In the first few words of Genesis, Ruach is pictured as blowing over the deep face of the waters _ over the darkness and void. And whenever someone is “filled with the Spirit” - that’s right: Jews were filled with the spirit long before evangelical Christians - the Hebrew word translates as “filled with wind.” So be careful who you call a “windbag.”

Jesus was big on wind, as well. He counseled that if you want to get your cosmic act together, you need to be born of water and wind. Mama and Ruach. Or, pneuma, as the Greeks would have it. “You hear the sound of the wind,” Jesus said. “Can’t tell where it’s coming from or where it’s going. That’s the way it is for people born of wind. Of spirit.
In the Qur’an, it’s clear that Allah loves the wind as well. 'The wind is a Blessing of Allah,” says chapter 58. “Sometimes, it brings His Mercy and sometimes, it brings His Chastisement. When you experience it, do not revile it but beg of Allah, its good; and seek Allah's Refuge against its evil.''

Whether wind is actually Spirit or simply an analogy for Spirit, it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is remembering how differently wind comes to each of us. Simultaneously. 24/7. Depending on where we are on the globe and what day it is. Could a howling thunderstorm. Could be a gentle breath of a breeze. Could be dry and chilly. Could be warm, wet and stinky. Could be butt-crack cold or sauna-steamy hot. But it’s all wind. All the same. All different manifestations of the same mysterious presence.

What if that’s the way it is with Spirit? What if Spirit comes to each of us differently? At different times? In different places? Like colors of the rainbow, what if red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet are all manifestation of Spirit? We may see green, but others see indigo? We may see red, but others may not see anything at all. What if Spirit is truly jet-streaming its way across the globe even now, offering us each a teasing taste of different parts of this miraculous life?
- Howard

Celebrations at Jubilee!
January 9, 2011
Via Creativa: Colors of the Wind
“The Color of Connection”
Isaiah 42: 1-7
I have given you as a covenant to the people; a light to the nations.
Surah Al-’Imran 3: 103-104
Let there be a community of you who invite others to what is good...
Mark 1: 4-11
He saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.
Celebration Leader: Howard Hanger

January 16, 2011
Via Creativa: Colors of the Wind
“The Color of a Calling”
I Samuel 3: 1-10
Here I am, for you called me.
Surah Al Qasas 28: 2-7
We shall restore him to you and shall invest him with a mission.
John 1: 43_ 51
Come and see!
Celebration Leader: Howard Hanger

Questions about calendar? Call 252-5335 or go to: Calendar

A Pilgrimage of Reconciliation January 15...9:30 am to 3:30 pm - Come treat yourself to a day of guided meditation, creative journaling, reflective questions, and shared silence, as we head into the new year and the spiritual path known as the Via Creativa. This day will focus on the themes of reconciliation, offering us a chance to call to mind those areas of brokenness within our hearts as we seek the healing that brings wholeness and peace. The time of reflection will include a pilgrimage through stations of reconciliation as we consider our relationships, internal and external. Suggested donation of $30, to be shared with Jubilee! Community. Snacks provided, please bring your own lunch. Led by Laura Collins, sponsored by the Spiritual Journey Team. Register by email: laura@livingrituals.com by January 12, 2011.

Drug Awareness Workshop at Jubilee! Participants: High schoolers and their parents/parent figures. Dates/Time: Sundays, January 16, 23, and 30 from 12:30 _ 2 pm downstairs. The topics will be different each Sunday, so this workshop works best if everyone attends every session.
Format: Together, we’ll watch the DVD Study Series Addition and the Human Brain. Then, we’ll break out into two, smaller discussion groups - one for the parents and one for the teens. Our Nurture Coordinator, Vicki Garlock, will be the lead facilitator. Vicki has a Ph.D. in psychology with specialty areas in neuroscience and cognitive development. She taught in the psychology department at Warren Wilson College from 1997-2008. Get straight for-ward info and honest answers.
Want to sign up? Questions? Contact Vicki Garlock at vickig@
jubileecommunity. org or 252-5335, VMB #2

Have Talent Project Money? - If you have any Talent Project money to turn in, please pick up an envelope on the counter in the Hospitality Room, mark it as “Talent $” and place it in the offering basket by Sunday, December 26th. We would like to have all talent money in as soon as possible so that we can get those dollars out to the helping agencies by the end of the year.

Thanks!
“Thanks to everyone, I am spending this holiday in my new home. Happy Holidays, Jubilee! Community.” - Susan Horton, a Habitat for Humanity homeowner