— 1 —

Just Breathe

We breathe the same air.
The same breath.
Breath which sustains life.
God is this breath and this life.
The more of Him we take in,
the more of Him which lives within us.
You can hold your breath and try to keep Him out,
but your very self will cry out for Him
and fight
against your wrong will
until you relent.
And gulp Him in again.
What precious breath.
Which we take for granted
and barely recognize –
until there is too little of it.
Taking God within us
is as natural as taking your next breath.
And as necessary.
Breathe in.

We do not just breathe in,
but we necessarily must also breathe out.
We cannot hold our breath forever.
Even if we try,
we leak
and eventually it all comes out.
God’s life and grace comes into us
and it is natural for it to flow back out of us
and onto others.
To act differently
is to act contrary to how we are made.

Physiologically, even if we try
to empty ourselves
completely,
there remains breath within us.
There is no such thing as giving too much –
some grace always remains with us.
He resides within us forever –
from the first breath of Him we take.
So do not worry,
but breathe in
and breathe out.

— 2 —

I have been thinking a lot lately about my brothers in the military. We see things most people only have nightmares about. We undergo intense physical strain and discomfort. Emotional burdens far greater than we anticipated. Demands are made of us. Consequences are severe. Life is stark, raw, intense. Bonds are made between those who have been thrown into the common forge. These people are my family. I love them. I would give my life for them. They understand me and I them. Others don’t get it. We don’t try to explain. When we meet another current or former military member… Ah… Yes… I see me in you. And we know each other, even if we have just met.

— 3 —

Is there such a thing as too much empathy? Where you care too much, feel too much? Love too much? Want the good for the other so much that it pains you that you cannot give of yourself more?

— 4 —

Which brings me to one of my favorite quotes from the Didache,
“You shall not hate any man, but some you shall reprove, some you shall pray for, and some you shall love more than the breath of life that is in you.”

— 5 —

I finally put up my 2012 calendar. Yes, I know that 1/3 of the year is already gone. So, sorry to those of you who have birthdays or anniversaries in that first part of the year. I didn’t mean to pass you over. And I did still write you in. 🙂

— 6 —

I love plants. Yet, as my priest has confessed, I also have a black thumb. My home is like plant hospice. Where plants go to die. I wonder… is that an act of mercy?

— 7 —

I think there really is something to the theory that cell phones are designed to die about two years or so after you buy them. Just when you are eligible to upgrade to the next generation of must-have phone. But before you actually save the money that you rationalized you would from the last upgrade you purchased. I bought my Droid about 2 years ago. I rationalized that I would make up the difference in the cost of the new phone because I wouldn’t have to pay the additional fees that I was paying to have a Blackberry. Now, my phone is acting all glitchy. Frequently, when I go to use the camera, it will flash as if it were taking a photo, yet not actually *take* a photo, and lock me out from being able to use it. Or when I go to enter some text, the keyboard will be replaced by a field of white. If I try to use it, words will appear, I just have no idea if I’m actually hitting the right keys or not until the word appears. And then I can’t see the backspace…. And this evening, I saw a boot screen or something that I’ve never seen before. I’m pretty sure that’s not good.
So, now there’s the eternal question: Do I buy a new phone or not? Another Droid, or do I cross over to the dark side of iPhone ownership?

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