Life and Breath

Why “Life and Breath”?

When Paul preached his famous sermon on Mars Hill, he made a couple of observations that would have been mind-blowing to the polytheistic Greeks: that there was only one god, and that he made and sustains the universe. Paul’s said: “He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things,” and, “in Him we live and move and have our being.”

After Paul finished his speech, some sneered, but others believed. I have to wonder if the believers were, like me, metaphorically slapped upside the head by those verses. According to Paul, we’re not (as one of my friends continually says) “all that and a bag of chips.” We’re here and continue to be here because someone is commanding that we “be”. This realization has thoroughly changed my perspective on the world and how I interact with it; it has made me approach life with caution and—wonder. All of a sudden, life experiences, good and bad, funny and sad, have significance, and are worthy of inspection and remembrance. And often, it is the very small, everyday experiences that teach us our most important lessons.