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Breath Of Fresh Air


Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory in the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them, 
human beings that you care for them? 
You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky,
 and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8)

          A breath of fresh air after an hour in a closed room among a bunch of bored or frustrated people. A breath of fresh air after being stuck inside for days, or months because of weather or health. You know what it’s like. Sometimes, nothing is better than a nice breath of fresh air. I remember when I was walking and jogging good distances, the feeling I got when I’d gone far enough. It felt as if someone had opened my lungs and unwound my shoulders. I knew that at least, I had found a sort of release. It was cathartic. It was a breath of fresh air.
           Today’s passage is a one of those. After seven psalms focused on our wrong doing or someone else’s wrong doing to us, today we get… God and the whole wide universe. After minutes, days, or years of being told or shown that we’re nothing more than animals, or star excrement or star corpse dust, suddenly, we’re just a little lower than the angels and rulers over all He has made.
         I’ve noticed something about breathing. I don’t tend to breath when I’m exerting force or when force is being exerted on me. You’re supposed to breathe when you’re going up stairs or lifting something, but I don’t seem to remember to. When I’m done, I get a breath of fresh air. I suspect the same is true when we’re facing a difficult time. There’s part of us that forgets to breathe. It might even forget how to breathe. The key is where we look for that breath of fresh air. Just as you wouldn’t want to suck air from an exhaust pipe, we need to not inhale the spiritual toxins around us. Turn your focus on God and enjoy a breath of fresh air.

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