I appreciate the image of the little girl folding her paper cranes and breathing life into them as if she were God to them. Little minds often hold big thoughts.
As a teacher, I learned that my words had power–they could either encourage or defeat my students. I tried to keep that in mind, especially when I needed to redirect the children. We always had a moment of silence after the pledge to the flag each morning, and I would often use that time to ask God to push my “self” aside and to speak His love through me to my students. I had not considered, though, that this could be interpreted as my breathing the spirit of God from me into others. That seems like a huge responsibility! Perhaps I need to be more intentional about being that channel.
In what ways can we “breathe” the spirit of God to others?
In a sermon near the end of his time with us, Pastor Greg stressed the word 'breath.' I don't remember the context of the word in the sermon, but I became uncertain of its meaning. The breath we exhale, that we can 'see' in cold weather, and that we talk most about has no value to us. We may see it for a few seconds and it is gone- into nothingness. We talk of breathing in air, perhaps with some adjective, but I have never said, 'I breathed in some breath.' Yet, we use the word so much to us spiritually. . . . Looks like I have reached maximum characters. Thanks for reading.
Sunday's writing was very powerful and humbling to me : " The creation narrative affirms a biblical understanding that all we are able to do originates with God's spirit that infuses our lives."
I appreciate this reminder that we too can inspire others through the manner of our living. We have likely all felt the relief of "fresh air", perhaps coming out of a stuffy room, or completing an exercise, or after holding our breath under water. Breath and air are constants in our lives, but perhaps so present we fail to fully appreciate them until they are constrained.