It's the start of holy week, and the beginning of a murder trial. I'm reminded today that precious life is always only a few breaths away from being snuffed out. That a knee to the neck is all it takes for breath to be stolen, life to be violently taken.
Life is (literally) but a breath, and our days are a passing shadow. In the year of coronavirus, breath is the battleground. In only 365 days, we've grown accustomed to covering our faces, keeping our distance, to protect our breath. We just can't risk it.
I used to take short, shallow breaths, scarcely even aware of them. I had things to do and people to see. I carried stress in every fiber of me.
Now, I'm learning to breathe deeper. As I feel the anxious thoughts swirling (in through the nose, out through the mouth) When the brokenness of our world is just too much (longer on the exhale). I have learned that something as simple as mindful breathing can reorient my body and quiet my mind.
It's science. Not really my forte, but I've read a great deal about the nervous system, about regulation, and the science is saying: your breath matters.
It's also spiritual. A song we sing regularly at church, and one that's taken on new meaning this year, carries the refrain: "It's your breath, in our lungs, so we pour out our praise!"
When Jesus hung on the cross, breath was not a luxury he was afforded. In order to fill his lungs, he had to pull himself up with every ounce of strength he could muster.
In this way, as in all others, he has been like us. When he entered into humanity, he required breath. When he suffered for our sake, he experienced what it was to lack breath. This lack gave way to his excruciating death.
What a comfort, that God's own Son would choose to become like us in this way! That he would willingly endure death for us, so we might have life with him.
This week, as I reflect on so many painful losses, I practice deep breaths as an act of worship. As an acknowledgement that our days are short and each moment matters. And in praise of Jesus, who identified with us all the way down to our need for breath.
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