As a young woman, I spent time studying theology and literature under the care of humble, wise teachers in the verdant landscape of the Pacific Northwest. It was a time of both awakening and settling at the same time. I set my roots deep like the red cedars that towered over the city. My soul awakened to the poetic power and beauty of words that teach us mysteries which defy our logic.

It also marked my first remembered encounters with bald eagles which nested in those same cedars and soared over the harbor shore. Watching those birds rest in the wind, tipping their wings to capture its power, awakened a vision of faith. Twenty-five years later, I continue to learn how to put my trust in the power of the Wind, tipping my wings to let His Spirit carry me. The beauty of soaring comes only when you take the risk and trust the goodness of the Maker’s design.

These birds and others like them are a continued emblem of promise in my life. I cannot count the times a hawk in flight catches the corner of vision lifting my anxiety-ridden heart to remember the promise of what is true about the Wind, my purpose and my Creator.

Central to my life is my faith in a Trinitarian God who loves and redeems and makes whole, and these essays will explore those connections between my little world, my limited understanding, and His expansive grace.