Breathe

Genesis 2:7

then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

I am fascinated by the Greek word Pneuma, and the Hebrew word Ruah.  Rarely do words translate from one language to the next with multiple identical meanings, and often multiple meanings do not speak to the same thing. Think of all the different meanings for the word Bill… Both Pneuma and Ruah translate: wind, breath, spirit, and inner life.

God sustains us all the time, whether we realize it or not. That is seen in its simplest form in our breathing. Have you had to focus on your breathing while reading this? It just happened. You breath, God sustains you. You breath in, the oxygen goes into your blood, and through every bit of your body. God literally sustains us ALL the time without us having to ask!

In this passage God breathes the “breath of life”, aka the “Spirit”, into a person. When I sit at someone’s death bed I watch them take their final breath, and their heart stops beating. Then we say their soul is in heaven, and it’s just their body left here on earth. In some sense, our life is in our breath. In the air, the oxygen, the Holy Spirit, we continually fill ourselves with.

We say the Holy Spirit is everywhere, even though you can’t see it, but you can feel it. You can’t see air, but you can feel it’s movement, and see the effects of it’s movement.

It is humbling to think about this. When I and worshiping God, singing at the top of my lungs, it is by the Holy Spirit. When I am sharing my faith with others, it is God giving me the ability. But, when I am saying things that are not Holy, God is still sustaining me. When I doubt, or deny God, God is still sustaining me. If someone says they don’t believe in God, or don’t love God… God is still giving them breath, sustaining them. That is amazing grace. That is unconditional love.

One of my other favorite passages to think about this is John 20:22. Jesus breathes on his disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

So, do this. This is something my Great Uncle Ed taught me to do. 

Sit up straight. Close you eyes and focus on taking long deep breaths. Breath in the Holy Spirit, breath out the junk. As the oxygen enters your blood, feel the Spirit flow throughout your whole body. Feel free to say, “Jesus,” “Come Holy Spirit” or “Thank you God.” In with the Spirit…. Out with the Junk

Hands down, this is a nearly sure fire way to center myself in God’s presence.