When I was seven, I fell from a height of about six feet and when I hit the ground my breath was knocked out of me and I broke my arm. I didn’t realize my arm was broken for a few minutes because I was so distracted by the experience of losing my breath. I can still remember the sky and treetops above me coming into focus when, after those first seconds of shock passed, my lungs expanded and took in air again. As a young adult I lost a childhood friend to suicide and when I heard the news I felt as if I could not breathe. For the first few seconds as I tried to imagine what I had been told, everything stopped: time, reality, even breathing. At times, this life is crippling. Stress, suffering and sorrow drain me to the point that I am like the dry bones in this story – scattered, formless and unable to stand tall.
Yet, even in those seconds with no breath at all, I know there is God. When asked an impossible question, Ezekiel says “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” And God does know the answer! So as I lay my stress, my suffering and my sorrow down and open myself to God, I can find my breath again.
Divine Creator – Give me the strength to let go of my burdens. Breathe your power and your peace into me. Allow my life to become what you designed it to be. Amen.
—Sunni Bannon
No comments:
Post a Comment