March 24, 2025
There aretimes I behave in ways I am not proud of and feel very incongruent to my soul. Thechaos of the world and the chaos into my head leaks into my thoughts andbehaviors. Coming back to stability may happen as an interior shift in us, oras an external shift in circumstances. The common theme is surrender, so we canopen up our lungs and our hearts for the breath of God, the breath of thespirit.
YHWH
There was a moment when Moses had the nerve toask God what his name is. God was gracious enough to answer, and the name hegave is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH.
Over time we’vearbitrarily added an “a” andan “e” inthere to get YaHWeH, presumably because we have a preference for vowels.
But scholars and Rabbi’s have noted that theletters YHWH represent breathing sounds, or aspirated consonants. Whenpronounced without intervening vowels, it actually sounds like breathing.
YH (inhale): WH (exhale).
So a baby’s first cry, his firstbreath, speaks the name of God.
A deep sigh calls His name – or a groan or gasp that is too heavy for merewords.
Even an atheist would speak His name, unaware that their very breath is givingconstant acknowledgment to God.
Likewise, a person leaves this earth with their last breath, when God’sname is no longer filing their lungs.
So when I can’t utter anything else, is mycry calling out His name?
Being alive means I speak His name constantly.
So, is it heard the loudest when I’m the quietest?
In sadness, we breathe heavy sighs.
In joy, our lungs feel almost like they will burst.
In fear we hold our breath and have to be told to breathe slowly to help uscalm down.
When we’re about to do something hard, we take a deepbreath to find our courage.
When I think about it, breathing is giving him praise. Even in the hardestmoments!
This is so beautiful and fills me with emotion every time I grasp the thought.God chose to give himself a name that we can’thelp but speak every moment we’re alive.
All of us, always, everywhere.
Waking, sleeping, breathing, with the name of God on our lips.
- Unknown Author
