The Rev. Canon Anne E. Kitch
Matthew 21:1-11, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Matthew 27:11-54
Breathe.
“Breathe,” my colleague tells me as he senses my anxiety mount because one more thing has gone wrong with my day.
“Breathe,” my friend emails me, “Take care of yourself as Holy Week approaches...hope you can find a few breathing spaces here and there.”
“Breathe,” I tell my companion and I gift him with post-it notes that say, “Things I need to do today: 1) Breathe in. 2) Breathe out.”
Breathe. How simple…and how complex! Breathing, the act of respiration, is a complex chemical and biological process. It is the transformation of oxygen into carbon dioxide. Every cell needs to respire in order to produce the energy it needs. So, if breath is necessary for energy, why do we think of taking a deep breath when we want to calm down?
Perhaps we need energy to focus, to be. Lately I have been reading a book called Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabot-Zinn. He writes, “Bringing awareness to our breathing, we remind ourselves that we are here now so we might as well be fully awake for whatever is already happening.” (p. 18)
Wherever you go, there you are. So where are you this day, Palm Sunday? With the excitement of the palms? With the solemnity of the passion? Somewhere else completely? Wherever it is, breathe. Remind yourself that you are here and now. This is the moment that you encounter God.
