How much, it seems, the voice of God in our lives is like that wind, so constant, so present, that we only notice it when it stops — in times of crisis, the loss of a loved one, a marriage gone bad, a fight with a friend that leaves us feeling misunderstood and unloved. Then we feel the great emptiness around us and reach out for the calming promise that we are not alone in the world.
But God's voice has not stopped. Like that great Saskatchewan wind, it has only paused to catch its breath, and to remind us by its silence to listen more closely, and take it less for granted when it begins to whisper once again. . . .
The Great Hindu leader Mahatma Gandhi said, "It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without heart."
Jesus, in the Gospel of John, said, "The wind blows where it will, and you hear its sound, but know not whence it comes or to where it is going." . . .
It is not important that we know from whence they come or to where they are going, or even if we give them a name. All we need to know is that the moments of love, of caring, of the unprotected human heart, whenever we encounter them, are the voice of the spirit, blowing like the wind through our everyday lives.
Our task is to hear that voice, and to make of each day a prayer that bears witness to its presence.
— Kent Nerburn, The Hidden Beauty of Everyday Life