The sun comes up and the sun goes down,
then does it again, and again—the same old round.
The wind blows south, the wind blows north.
Around and around and around it blows,
blowing this way, then that—the whirling, erratic wind.
All the rivers flow into the sea,
but the sea never fills up.
The rivers keep flowing to the same old place,
and then start all over and do it again.
Everything’s boring, utterly boring—
no one can find any meaning in it.

Ecclesiastes 1:5-9, The Message

One day, the sun and wind weren’t doing their jobs. They’d grown tired of their routines- every day was the same as the one before. Humans were dumb and believed the sun revolved around them and they were completely clueless about the wind. They’d tried to capture it and thus far, had failed.

The north wind, having blown trees and houses down, not yet having trailer parks to terrorize, was feeling cocky. He said to the sun, “You’re weak. Have you ever destroyed a thing in your life?”

The sun, much larger than the wind, but further from Earth just grunted. In due time, his solar flares would kill cell phone and satellite reception and people would curse him. Also, he’d been a major cause of cancer for years. “You think you’re tough, do you? What do you say to a little competition?”

The north wind laughed. It was an awkward, shrill laugh that one might expect from a teenage boy in the midst of puberty. “What could you do better than me? I move things. You just help me see them. You’re a giant light bulb.”

The sun’s confidence was not shaken. “See that man, walking along the banks of the Jordan in his terrible jean jacket? Let’s see who can get him to take it off. That will determine who’s strongest.”

The north wind cocked his head to the side and wondered, “What is he getting at? This guy is weird.” But, he conceded to the sun’s plan. “Getting a man’s coat off? That’s nothing compared to trees, this should be cake. Watch me.”

At that, the north wind huffed and puffed and tried to blow the man’s jacket right off his shoulders. The human leaned into the gust, pulled his acid-washed denim jacket closer and continued on his journey. Eventually, he planned on crossing the Jordan river. He just wasn’t ready yet. Offended by the man’s resistance, the north wind blew harder. In his exertion, the north wind uprooted a cedar tree that crashed directly in front of the traveling human. The man simply flipped up his collar, detoured around the fallen trunk and continued to walk.

The sun scoffed. “Why’d you do that? I liked that tree. Let me have a go at him now.”

The wind scowled, but relented. The sun simply shined. He beamed down on the man, who started to get all sorts of swampy. Sweat formed on his brow, under his arms, and dripped from his lower back. We’ll leave it at that. The sun didn’t even have to try harder, he just did what was natural to him and as the man perspired to the point that he was uncomfortable, he took his jean jacket off.

The sun didn’t have to say anything- the north wind was bitter about his defeat and grumbled as he made his way toward Europe, not realizing that in a couple of days, he’d be in the same spot again. In his defeat, he’d forgotten about his boredom.

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If either had to represent Yahweh and his efforts or methods, would you believe that the Almighty is more like the wind, or the sun? Does God use force to get you to follow his will, or are we directed a little more subtly by his qualities? What do you think?