Breath, Spirit, and Connecting with Others

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. ~Job 33:4

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. ~Genesis 2:7

And when Jesus had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit…” ~John 20:22

Day 4:  Connect

On Saturday, I was in the unusual position of  having my sermon done and ready.  That freed me to actually have the day off and I was looking forward to using some of that time to attend a meditation group that I try to get to as schedules allow.

It had been a while since I had been to the group.  I was looking forward to sitting with everyone, wrapping my prayer shawl around me and settling into stillness the way I might sink into a warm bath, concentrating on my breath, watching it as it flowed in and out, until it no longer felt like my breath at all.  Until it felt like something more spacious was breathing me.

pneu·ma  (ˈn(y)o͞omə)  —Spirit…wind…breath 

I used to know most of the people at the mediation group, but time moves and faces change.  I find I know fewer faces.  Saturday was no exception.

We don’t talk much at these gatherings, typically.  We arrive, we breathe, we go.  But that day the invitation from 40acts was to connect.  So while I was putting my boots on at the end of the session, I introduced myself to someone doing the same thing.  We hadn’t met before.  We hadn’t talked before.  We’d never connected.

I don’t know about you, but for me there is always a moment after saying, “Hello,” to someone, a stranger, that I wonder if it was a wise idea.  Would they talk to me?  Would they talk too much? It’s an awkward moment.

What I discovered in the conversation that followed was that the two of us used to live in the same town and had enjoyed some of the same places, such as the local Farmer’s Market.  We chatted about long commutes, working on weekends, and of all things, waxing cross country skis.

All of that in common with a complete stranger proving once again that there is generally more that connects us than divides us.

I’m endlessly in awe of how Jesus was able to connect with people.  Wherever he was, he was able to connect—in the synagogue, around a table, at the lakeshore, beside a well, on a hillside, even on a cross. He connected with people.  He connected people.

On my way home I couldn’t help but wonder:  what enabled him to do it?

Jesus was conceived by the Spirit, baptized by the Spirit, led by the Spirit.  Breathing in—Spirit.  Breathing out—Spirit .   Jesus took into himself the very breath of God and then sent it back into the world again.   Those around him felt it.  Wherever Jesus was, the Spirit’s wind was felt, ruffling feathers, fanning flames, soothing wounds, bending certainties, propelling dreams.

Ru-ach  (roo’-akh)—Spirit…wind… breath

Is this not also the same air that we all breathe, that was actually breathed into us when we were formed from the dust?   Is this not also the life giving thread that connects each of us to the other, that moves through us and resides in the spaces between us?  We are all connected.  I think Jesus knew this and lived its truth.

The thought occurred to me that perhaps sitting with others, focusing on breathing–on our common Source of Life–was itself a profound way of connecting.  Breathing in—Spirit.  Breathing out—Spirit.   No words needed.

As I continued to drive home, the lyrics of a song I used to sing in Sunday School breezed into awareness:

 “The Spirit in me greets the Spirit in you, Alleluia.
God’s in us and we’re in God, Alleluia.”