Have you ever felt that God is closer to you than your own breath? Merton says that every breath we draw is gift....every moment of existence is a grace. Hildegard, in speaking to God, says "O what a miracle to be awake inside your breathing." I guess I am using breathing for my reflection today and must confess it is because I received the little newsletter of "Friends of Silence for June and it is full of quotes about breathing. It also says that "breath of life", the Latin word "spiritus", is the root of the word spirituality. As Religious of the Sacred Heart, we realize that we breathe in God's love and then breathe out His love to others.
Paying attention to our breathing is helpful for entering into deeper contemplation. I often think of the Holy Spirit breathing in me.
Can the act of being conscious of our breathing, or rather just breathing consciously, be prayer? It certainly leads me into an intimate relationship with the Trinity so I consider it both prayer and an invitation to rest in God. We cannot help but breathe from the moment of our exiting our mother's womb until we cease to have life; breathing is something we all have in common. Well, I leave these thoughts for your own reflection.
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