#breathe

The Anglican Communion Office has been asking people to post photos each of how they react to a word that they post for the day. On December 11 the word was #breathe. Immediately I connected with my favorite piece of calligraphy by Mary Anne Radmacher, then I connected with my current dealings with IPF (see previous posts) and the possibility that I might not be able to breathe easily in the future if the medications don't halt the progression. But even more current is the #icantbreathe protests

around the grand jury decision not to send the police officer who choked Eric Garner to death (all video-recorded) after hasseling him for allegedly selling cigarettes illegally. And now to the Torture Report - and the use of near-drowning as one of many terrible acts committed by the US.

Breathing is not something I ever thought about until I learned I might not be able to do it. The calligraphy mostly meant room for my spirit to find freedom of walking the beach in sun and storm. But now it is more than that - it is an embodied reality.

Which leads me to think about how God's spirit (ruach-breath) moved over the still creation (see the Bible - Genesis Chapter 1-2) and began the stirring that led to all that has been, is and will be. That Spirit became embodied in Christ and died a terrible death. What resurrection can come from all the ways I encounter the word "breathe"this day?

What new life can come from the death of Eric Garner? Can the US repent of its sins of its history - from the genocide of native peoples to slavery to racism and other forms of keeping power? I wonder.