Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
–Psalm 150:6

Look at the words we use to describe breathing:

I’ve caught my breath and lost my breath.
I’ve held my breath and taken a breath.
I’ve fought for breath and struggled to find it.

Breathing must be more of a challenge than I’ve been giving it credit for.

Think about this with me for a second. Breathing involves many partners working in tandem, like a group project where everyone has a different idea about how it should be done.

First, there’s your body. Your respiratory system. It seems to have a mind of its own. It is vigilant, if nothing else, making certain that each breath is coming, one after the next.

Then, there’s You. Your conscious self. Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, you choose to disengage the autopilot and take a few breaths, because you choose to. Or have to.

Nature also seems to be a contributor. Cottonwood seeds, your swimming pool, even the pillow you bury your face in when you’re sleeping, all seem to have a say in when, and how, you breathe.

And don’t forget those rare moments when someone enters your life and takes your breath away. That can be exhilarating and debilitating all at the same time.

The very act of breathing involves so many factors, and we haven’t even talked about God yet. How am I supposed to “Praise the Lord” with my every breath, when I hardly seem able to control it?

We could learn a thing or two from Zen Buddhism. Monks let all of those challenging verbs fade into the background. What’s left is an embodied awareness of life itself, captured and structured by this most elemental of practices.

In and out. In and out. The rhythm is there, to be appreciated, but less in the doing, and more in the being.

In that attentive moment, you and I can use our breath to praise the Lord.

Praise is not something we have to try to force out of every breath. It’s something that flows through us, asking us to notice it.

What’s more, everything, everything that has breath has been given the same indescribable gift of life. Praise is what happens to us when we receive it.

Don’t let the mechanics of breathing get in the way of appreciating it. Praise loses its power when you force it.

If life has left you feeling winded today, know that nothing can truly stifle the rejuvenating and sustaining flow of God’s Spirit.

Stop trying to catch your breath, friend. 

Just breathe.

Have a great week,

Mitch