Tag Archives: Breath

The Breath of Love

breath-of-lifeLiving in the Spirit
July 29, 2015

Scripture Reading: Psalm 51:6-12

You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.  

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. –Psalm 51:6-12

What is a clean heart? In the 21st century, we have available to us very graphic, real illustrations of arteries clogged with plaque blocking the flow of life-giving blood bringing the oxygen to sustain the pumping of the heart. Such knowledge was not available to the poets of three thousand years ago. The wisdom of keeping ones heart healthy was known. While we certainly still use the metaphor, the idea of the heart in our times is probably more that of a hardworking muscle than the seat of love it was to for the author of this Psalm. It is important that this flip-flop of knowledge does not distract from its truth.

God did plant the seed of love deep within us and we are responsible in communion with God to nurture it and help it grow throughout our entire being beyond our arms and legs back to God and to all our neighbors. When we let the plaque of separation from God build up in our being we block the flow of love so vital for our own wholeness, the very source of our oneness, and essential for justice throughout our world.

Just as we watch our diets and exercise to take care of our physical hearts, we must feed our souls with spiritual disciplines and exercise our love until it is as normal a part of our being as it is to take in the breath of life.

Prayer: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Living in the Spirit
July 13, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 

But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. — Matthew 11:23  

If you have been around church very long you have meet some of these good-soil people. I had the privilege of being reared by one. My mother was a very resourceful person. I always thought it came from being a Deaconess in the Methodist church serving in the mountains of West Virginia in the midst of the Depression. I honestly think she got more joy out of making something new out of old cast of clothes than starting with brand new fabric. She could multiple bread, if needed to feed unexpected guest; was equally comfortable talking to a street person or a Senator; and was most often empathetic rather than judgmental. I say most often, because I do not think you would have wanted to come up against my mother, if you were mistreating someone. Even in that case she would have been there for you, if you expressed the desire to turn your life around.

We are all called to be good-soil people striving to be like Christ in all that we do. Being a disciple of Christ is a lifelong journey. While we may find ourselves lying on top of the soil rather than extending our roots deeply or thinking the rocks are actually fertile soil or getting caught in the briers of life, we will not become disciples until we relax into that good soil and let it change us from a seed to a vital plant.  Plants are sources of oxygen. So perhaps we are called to be Christ oxygen in a carbon polluted world.

Prayer:  Here I am Lord, bury me deep in the soil of your love so that I may be a breath of fresh air in our world today. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.