Dispatch from South Africa:
In Hebrew, ruah means “spirit”—the Spirit of God, the Ruah of God. It also means “breath”—Yahweh breathing ruah into Adam. And finally, ruah means “wind”—ruah as the force of nature blowing around us every day.
Not What I Ordered (a poem)
A calm and beautiful day lay down in the shadow of the Drakensberg mountains.
But at night, the wind came.
We slept in a home in the middle of a cornfield.
Empty husks whipped past. Doors rattled in their frames.
Tin sheets lifted off the roof.
Windows banged.
Trees bent.
Dogs howled.
The ruah rushed and pushed, swirled and slammed.
Not peaceful. Not desired. Not what I wanted.
Comprehensive. Threatening. Disturbing. Strong. Fitful. Alarming. Relentless.
The wind.
The breath.
The Spirit.
Ruah.
Now comes the sun.