The Breath of Life

" Elijah went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there, gathering sticks. Some time later, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, 'What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?'  'Give me your son,' Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room, where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the Lord, ' O Lord, my God, have You brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?' Then, he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the Lord, 'O lord, my God, let this boy's life return to him!'  The Lord heard Elijah's cry, and the boy returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, 'Look, your son is alive!' Then, the woman said to Elijah, 'No I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the Truth!' " [1 Kings 17: 17-24].

[Elijah, like John the Baptist, was a precursor of Jesus. Elijah was God's boldest warrior. Despite some dazzling victories, at one point, he descended into a deep depression. But Elijah rested so that God could use him again. Elijah was on the mountaintop with Jesus during His Transfiguration.]

In this story, Elijah restores life to a young boy who has stopped breathing.

It is a physiological fact that you can live 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, but only 3 minutes without air.

I have lived through this phenomenon of not breathing, my friends; and this has been throughout my entire life.

When my mother was giving birth to me, she slipped into distress. She underwent emergency surgery. I was lacking oxygen. But I was brought out into this world, and I began to breathe.

When I was about 3, I almost drowned in a neighbor's pool. As I struggled under the surface, I gasped for breath and my lungs took on water. I thought, "This is what it must be like to drown." My mother's swift arms pulled me out. I coughed out water and breathed again.

When I was in graduate school, I was violently assaulted by a man who invaded my home. I resisted, and he began to strangle me. I was losing consciousness. I prayed, 'God, let me live!' The attacker finally let go of my throat. I was told later that I had had 30 seconds to a minute.
 longer to live, when he let go.

I  have struggled with a serious lung disease most of my life. Last week, my breathing plummeted so low, it barely registered on my breath meter. My dr. gave me strong medicine. I am breathing again.

Breath is what keeps us alive. Without air, we cannot eat, we cannot speak, we cannot sleep, we cannot move, we cannot love, we cannot survive.

I could sit in judgment of God and say to Him, 'God, why are you punishing me so?' After all, my parents were cruel and harsh and abusive and violent towards me. My lung disease was never properly treated. I suffer every day with the scars of the abuse. Must I suffer as well, for their sins? Must I lose MY life to their Evil?

But no. God does not visit this Evil and sin upon His children. God gave us free will. My own family visited this trauma and destruction upon me, by their own power and choice. Over and over, across many years, it was my family who abused me. This pains me deeply. But, it is not God's fault.

Nor is it my fault. I have actually felt guilty at times. We all want to know what we can do to make things better. I have thought, what if I had run away? What if someone had rescued me? I have even tried to "confess" my parents' sins, as if I could cause God to wipe them all clean. It does not work that way.

What I am left with is that I need to be rescued and healed. And who, O God, will rescue me?

Of course, God is the most powerful Healer. And His Son, Jesus, who came in human form to heal all of us.

But I see that God alone did not bring the breathe back into my body all those times. My doctors did. My mother did. 

It was God, moving through human beings whom He sent, that saved me. What I am really clinging to, here, is the power of  ordinary men and women of God, who speak His Truth, and who live His Love.

You see, God has Infinite Power and Love. But His weakness is that He needs US to bring these to fruition. And so, the widow in this story says, " Now I know that you are a man of God and that the Word of the Lord from your mouth is the Truth." This is what saved her boy.

What heals? The Word of Truth, which is Love.

Speaking His Word, which is prayer.

Laying on of hands, which is human mercy.

Faith and encouragement, as when Elijah tells the widow, "Don't be afraid." [ 1 Kings 17: 13].

Trust. The widow in this story was literally starving during a famine,  and at Elijah's prompting, she made him a meal out of her last flour and oil. She feared it was her last meal, but the oil never ran dry.

This is an Old Testament story. But today, we still need Healers. We still need Faith, Trust, Prayer, Love, Truth, Mercy.

These qualities are not abstract, and they are not "out there somewhere." All of God's Love is within us. GOD Himself is within us!  He has given us the power to give Life to others. And He needs us to be His bold warriors.

As I look and I see you, I see God. I hope that you see the God in me, too!

[Related Posting, " The Evil Seed", May 24, 2103.]

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