Sharing the Whole Breath

This week I am contemplating the message after the message. It is easy for many of us as we read scripture or practice mindful meditation and prayer to think that our call to contemplation is the period at the end of our sentence with God. When Christ says”But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father” (Matt 6:6).

Sometimes I think I get so caught up in my inner spiritual voice to seek silence, to seek a personal moment with God, that I forget that those moments — like breathing itself — are only one half of my faith life. Yes, with the rush of my daily life, God is most certainly calling me into dark quiet rooms of prayer. I need moments away from the public, away from my work TO DO list and outside world’s demands. To be any good to others I must have time to stop–, “be still and know God”.

One of the necessary evils of having to train staff on new innovative community capacity building techniques is having to go to trainings myself. Training would not be so bad if it was in a dimly lit room of circled rocking chairs. You know, a bunch of academic, spiritually-centered people discussing and contemplating how to uplift individual and community strengths in a holistic way? But the truth is the trainings like this are done in a halogen lit bright room, at classroom desks, in a lecture style room, sitting in stiff chairs in a stagnant, artificially air conditioned setting . Sometimes the places God calls us to learn and explore are not the settings we would pick for ourselves. And whereever God had called me to learn –community capacity building– the lesson would be totally worthless if I were to decide to keep what I learned to myself.

As important and Christ centered as those inner, quiet and personal moments with God are, I do not believe they are ever an action that does not include a reaction. Christ is sent to the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights only to leave that isolation to pick his Disciples and begin his ministry.

Prince Siddhartha sat and contemplated purpose and Zen underneath the Bodhi tree only to claim that Nirvana and claim his ministry as the Buddha. Or when the prophet Moses, when in contemplation with God received the 10 commandments, they were not a meditative personal message which he was to keep to himself; the meditative message Moses received was a message from God which was to be shared with his community.

There is an Islamic prophecy that the prophet Muhammad secluding himself for three days and three nights of worship in the cave of Mount Hira before he was able to address the Angel Gaberiel’s calling for him to read in Mecca. “Read! In the Name of Your Lord, Who has created (all that exists), has created a man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood). Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who has taught (the writing) by the pen, has taught man that which he knew not.” (Ch 96:1-4 Quran).

There is this academic or theological lie that the truths we receive in our meditations and quiet times with God are personal messages for us alone, that they are messages we recieve to build our personal faith alone.

However, in fact, I believe the contrary could possibly be true. I do not believe that there is any time when our faith calls us (inside) where at some point we are not called to react (outside). If one finds their faith life to be one that only inhales: focusing on their personal relationship, personal needs, inner experiences of faith alone, I do not believe they are truly alive. At the same time if one sees their calling and purpose with and in God as only being evident in others. If one only sees God in the outward exhale of service to others, in the messages, prayers and intentions of others, then I do not believe they are truly alive either. The Holy Spirit can best be interpreted as Holy Breath or Holy Wind. “Like the wind the spirit moves where it will.” If person tries to spend their whole life only inhaling air, they will quickly die from the all the air they have inhaled into their lungs. Like- wise, an individual who would to try to only exhale all the time would run out of air and pass out due to lack of oxygen. Life is made possible and whole when every inhaled breath is followed naturally by an exhale. Inhale, exhale; inhale, exhale.

A full faith life needs to find fulfillment in the whole of one’s breath. Sometimes we are called into quiet rooms of prayer, onto isolated mountains to pray, heal and find direction. But that inhaling time and truth must be manifested in the exhaling of community giving , teaching and mission to complete our breath. Just like there are moments when we are called to seek teaching, gospel and pastoral direction from our ministers, congregations, loved ones and communities; there is also giving to the poor, ministering to the outcast, paying our tithes and offering our gifts. But the breath can not be made complete when God’s love is only something that is allowed to be given (exhaled) but not received.

This week before you meditate and pray, take a moment to try to exhale all the air you can from your lungs and then read your scripture. Then fill your lungs to capacity, still breathing in reread the same scripture. And then finally inhale, focus and exhale as you breath fully God’s word. Breath, much like life, is something we take for granted. One only has to visit the bedside of a dying loved one to see what life looks and feels like when a full breath cannot seem to be taken.

“Breathing in, I calm my body.
Breathing out, I smile.
Breathing in, Holy Spirit
Dwelling mindfully, I am at peace.” — (Tich Ni Hann)