Take A Moment, Breathe
For a while, I struggled to find grace in the words, “They will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother (Luke 12:53).” However, as I listen to the politics of the day, I am convinced of the wisdom of those words. My challenge has been to put the words of rhetoric, debate, and argument in their rightful places! Most of those words are said as a way to win at all cost—even at the risk of falsehood and fictitious half-truths. Throughout this 2016 presidential election, I find myself caught up in the words of one of the speakers that unearthed a lot of anger. Some of his statements were tremendously insulting to the Black, Hispanic, women, Muslim, and LGBTQ voter communities. What unnerved me the most was his declaration, “You have nothing,” referring to Blacks in America, “what do you have to lose!” I found his words degrading to my family, friends, community, and culture.
Words can hurt; especially, when those words are a reminder of hurt and pain of the past. As an African American born in the early fifties, I know firsthand what Blacks in America have endured in their struggle to gain full citizenship. Living in fear of torturous rape, beatings, and, in some cases, death was the experience of my people in this country for many years. Through the actions of those that took a risk for change by uniting with all people and marching in the streets for justice and equality while singing the chant, “We shall overcome some day…,” laws were enacted that opened the way for change. Now, in the 21st century, the words of this presidential candidate threaten to overturn all of the gains and bring fear, hatred, and divisiveness back into the hearts and minds of those that tasted the brunt of racism. For that reason, I was enraged by his comments during the opening of the Republican presidential campaign. So much so that I spewed insults at him in a loud voice that reverberated off the walls in my bedroom and could be heard in different parts of my house. In fact, my voice was so loud that my son ran into the room and said in a polite and gentle tone, “Mom are you alright? Please calm down—take a moment, breathe!”
As I reflected on my son’s words, I calmed when remembering and practicing what St. Anthony of the Desert taught his fellow monks as they gathered around him. His teaching focused on: “Always breathe Christ.”1 It is both a teaching about virtue and a search for experience, for only “the pure in heart shall see God.” What we have learned is that men and women are erotic beings. Our hearts hunger to find fulfillment and connection with the love of God. “For the mystics ever since Augustine,” says Louis Hughes, “life itself has been the drama of love—unhappy love, despairing love, liberated love, seeking love, and the love for God that has achieved the bliss which it sought for.”2
During our first gasp at birth, all living creatures are bestowed God’s gift of the breath. The busyness of our lives can distract us from thinking about breathing and its importance. Hughes in The Art of Allowing talks about a time when he gave up breathing. He stopped thinking of breathing as something needful for survival. His thoughts led him to ask his readers some critical questions on the subject: “Did you need to breathe when you were asleep last night? What steps did you take to ensure that you continued breathing from the time you woke up this morning up to the present moment?”3 He concluded that our breathing is not dependent on us and all we need to do is “let go, relax and allow [ourselves] to be breathed.”4 What actually did he mean by “to be breathed?”
Breathing is natural. It happens without any effort on our part. All living creatures receive this precious gift of breath at birth and, as expressed by Hughes, “When the breath is flowing freely and naturally, it goes into three broadly defined areas of the body.”5 Let’s take a look at each of the areas of the body and the different kinds of breathing in each of them.
Low breathing. This takes place when the abdomen moves in and out. As it moves the diaphragm moves down, thus drawing air into the lower part of the lungs. Because of this, it is sometimes called “abdominal breathing” or “diaphragmic breathing.”
Middle breathing. Here the lower ribs expand outwards to the sides rather like on old-fashioned bellows. It is also called “intercostal breathing,” literally “breathing within the ribs.”
High breathing. Also known as “clavicular breathing” or “collarbone breathing,” this involves a small rising and falling at the top of the chest. This form of breathing has a very low capacity compared to middle and especially low breathing.6
I invited my husband to try out the exercise focusing on his breathing in the three areas of the body mentioned above. To test the three areas, he laid flat on the floor and rested both his hands on his tummy with his middle fingers touching his navel—low breathing. He then brought his hand up and placed both his palms on his rib cage with his fingers flowing over the lower rib on either side—middle breathing. Finally, he placed his hands on the top of his chest and rested the tips of his three middle fingers of both hands just below the collarbone.7 What he concluded in trying out this simple exercise was he was able to relax!
Through the actions of my husband and son, I have been convinced of the wisdom of words “taking a moment, breathe!” Relaxation is the key! During this presidential campaign and, ultimately, the presidential election, I will need to take serious their advice so that no matter what words are spewed out by any of these candidates my goal is maintaining a calm and loving spirit by centering and focusing my mind on the love of God that is available to all.”
Notes
1. Louis Hughes, The Art of Allowing, (Dublin: The Columbia Press, 2010), 9.
2. Jurgen Moltmann, The Spirit of Life, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1992), 198-199.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Louis Hughes, The Art of Allowing, (Dublin: The Columbia Press, 2010), 21.
6. Ibid., 23.
7. Ibid., 22.
