I saw a bumper sticker this morning that read “Minds are like parachutes, they only work when they’re OPEN”. The back of the SUV had some tie-dyed peace symbol magnets so you know what that meant. As I thought about it I wondered how accurate that synthetic simile might be. It occured to me that a parachute only “works” when it is opened and filled with wind. If the parachute is opened and yet has such a large hole it can’t be filled with air, it is useless.

Biblically, the Holy Spirit is compared to wind. In John chapter 3, Jesus says that the wind blows where it may and those born of the Spirit are like that. The word for ‘spirit’ (??????) can mean spirit, wind or breath. So, if we import that Biblical understanding to that bumper sticker then they are correct. Minds are indeed like parachutes, they work, they keep you safe and alive, only when they’re opened and filled with the Spirit.