Breath of God

Post Author: Reverend Sam Houser

As I exhale deeply with the knowledge that Holy Week is upon us there is a hymn that has been rattling in my mind:

Breathe on me breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do.

Breathe on me breath of God, until my heart is pure, until my will is one with yours to do and to endure.

This hymn, written by Edward Hatch, is more than a song, it is a prayer! A prayer that, as we sit in whatever emotionally filled body that we are currently sitting within and entering into a week that is charged with all the emotionally filled texts of the season, reminds us of the fact that we are created in the image of God. More than being the image of God embodied, we are brought to life, animated in this world by the breath of God, the spirit of God, the Ruach of God.

In some meditative practices there is a mantra that invites folk to “breathe in all that is good and then in turn breathe out all that is bad or negative”; however, in the Tibetan meditative practice of tonglen the practitioner is invited into an equal exchange of one’s self. It is a meditative act of reciprocity acknowledging the many ways that humanity is connected to the rest of creation. Essentially one breathes in with the intent or as a prayer to remove suffering from the world at large and then breathes out with intent or as a prayer to offer comfort or joy to the world at large.

Let me be clear, this is not meant to be a practice to take on and carry the suffering of the world.  This is a practice that offers the healing rhythms that allow us to name the suffering of the world. This is a practice to acknowledge the suffering fully alongside recognizing the impact it has on those that bear the image of God and all of creation and to accept the suffering that is taking place if not to us then to our neighbors, our siblings, our world. This is a practice, then, to find a way to make peace knowing that we are connected to both the creation of the suffering and the impact that it has on us and creation.

For me that is why the hymn we started with feels so important in this time: I am in need of the reminder that the breath of God is filling me with life anew, with abundant love, with the capacity to act, and with the ability to endure. I hope and pray that the breath and spirit of God fills each of you dear readers with life anew, with abundant love, with a capacity to act and with an ability to endure.

Amen.