Learning to Breathe

Rauch; the breath of God

Pneumonia is not a spiritual discipline I recommend.

But it does preach.

This week my lungs have been in charge. Every deep breath threatens a cough. Every attempt to power through gets overruled. It’s humbling to realize how much of life depends on something you don’t control.

Breath.

In scripture, breath and Spirit share the same word: ruach.

You don’t manufacture it.

You receive it.

And that feels especially real right now.

There are important things unfolding at Bear Creek. Energy building. Transitions taking shape. And here I am, moving slower than I planned, remembering that the church does not run on my lungs.

It runs on Spirit.

Lent begins with dust and breath. We are dust — and God breathes into us anyway. We pause at 3:00 pm not to accomplish anything, but simply to breathe and remember who sustains us.

Illness has a way of teaching what Lent tries to teach gently:

You are not the source.

You are the receiver.

God breathes.

We live.

If your breath feels thin right now — physically or spiritually — take heart. The next inhale does not depend on your strength alone.

Sometimes the holiest thing we can do

is simply breathe

and trust that Spirit is nearer

than our lungs.

—

Your pastor and friend, thankful for God’s gift of breath, Brook