I was standing in front of 500 parents and athletes at our home school sports awards presentation. I had some jokes to tell. That always made me nervous. As I stepped up to the microphone I took a huge, cleansing breath to steady my nerves.
I looked out over the crowd and started speaking, “Wow! I haven’t seen this many homeschoolers in one place since the last Chick Fil-a cow appreciation day.” There was a momentary pause followed by the laughter I so hoped to hear.
We “take a deep breath” when we are agitated or nervous.
Meditation often starts by getting us to focus on our breathing.
When we lift heavy weights we are taught to breathe out as we exert.
To deal with the pain of childbirth women are taught to breathe, either in a pattern or in a slow, relaxing way. (I also breathe in a pattern when I’m on a long, strenuous run because running is pretty much just as painful as giving birth from what I understand.)
In ancient times breath was inextricably linked to life. The quickest way to determine if someone was alive or dead was to see whether or not they were breathing. Right from the beginning, the Bible is filled with examples of this life and breath link. Genesis 2:7 reads, ‘Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” (NLT)
Breath is life and breath connects us with all of the life around us. The air we breathe is recycled with all of humanity. The oxygen our bodies consume is generated by plants and their interactions with the sun. Radiation from the sun and stars creates oxygen from water molecules in the atmosphere. In that moment, when we inhale the breath of life, we are joined to the universe.
The physiology of breathing is no less astounding. We contract our diaphragm and expand our lungs, and red blood cells carry oxygen to every corner of our body. We expand our diaphragm and contract our lungs, and carbon dioxide is released. We do this 20,000 times each day! We rarely consider it, but it is a miracle.
I know a number of people who had serious cases of Covid and I know a few who have passed away. The common thread among all of them is the inability to breathe. That’s what makes Covid so destructive and dispiriting. It is literally taking away our God-given breath. It is robbing us of our connectedness. We tend to take our breathing for granted until we are faced with something that steals it from us without remorse.
Each breath is sacred.
It is early morning. The sun paints the eastern sky in brilliant pastels. Snow covers the ground. It is 23 degrees. I take a deep, purposeful breath. I focus on the cold air entering my nostrils and filling my lungs. I hold my breath for a moment. A precious instant.
One moment.
I exhale and water vapor forms a cloud that rises quickly above my head.
I am alive.