How’s Your Breathing?

“then the Lord God formed [the first human] from the dust of the ground, and breathed into [the first human’s] nostrils the breath of life; and the [the first human] became a living being.”

--Genesis 2:7 NRSV

"The great Jesuit theologian Teilhard de Chardin has a wonderful image of the ‘breathing together of all things.’ All living creatures are sustained by this life-giving rhythm, and we are dependent on plants, trees, and other vegetation to transform the carbon dioxide we exhale into the oxygen we need to thrive."
--- Christine Valters Paintner, The Wisdom of the Body: A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women

Once upon a time, the only person that ever asked about my breathing was a doctor putting a stethoscope to my chest.  Over time, as meditation, yoga and practices like contemplative prayer have become more common, I hear the question, “How are you breathing?” more often.  My mind races so fast to so many places, so I often come up short when I’m reminded to stop and breathe deeply.  My posture changes, I unclench parts of my body I had no idea I was tensing up and I discover my breath tells me everything about the state of my body and mind.

Breathing is often something we only think about when something is wrong, such as asthma, COPD or recently COVID-19, yet it is the foundation of life—not just your life and my life but ALL life.  The foundational story of creation in Hebrew and Christian scripture says that God breathed “the breath of life” into the original human, and in this poetic phrase we find contained all the mysteries of religion, science, philosophy and more about what it means to be “alive.”

The Hebrew word for “breath” in Genesis 2 can also mean “spirit” or “wind.”  It is a word that often means more than one definition at once.  Something of that multivalence is captured in the Christian hymn “Spirit of the Living God.”

Spirit of the Living God
Fall fresh on me
Spirit of the Living God
Fall fresh on me
Melt me, mold me
Fill me, use me
Spirit of the Living God
Fall fresh on me

When you and I stop and take note of our breathing, we slow down and pay attention to our bodies, our minds, our spirits.  We remind ourselves we are connected to all living things.  We rediscover the truth that living is not just about ourselves—our happiness, our pain, our worries.  Activist and civil rights leader Yuri Kochiyama said, “Life is not what you alone make it. Life is the input of everyone who touched your life and every experience that entered it. We are all part of one another.”  COVID-19 brutally reminds us how connected our world is; it’s easier to discover this truth by simply slowing down and paying attention to our breathing.  By doing so, we open ourselves to the work of God’s life-giving Spirit in the world.  Through our breathing we remember the One who created us and breathed life into us is always with us.

In our frantic efforts to cope with a world that feels so out of our control right now, we can turn our focus to what is in our control—our breathing.  In doing so, we connect with the One who really is in control, despite the non-stop news alerts on our phones tempting us to believe otherwise.

Stop. Breathe. Be.

Grace and Peace,

Chase