The Breath of God
When I was a kid, I was confused by the term “Holy Ghost,” which was used back then. Since my idea of ghosts was informed by the movies I saw at the Rialto Theater on Brooklyn’s Flatbush Avenue, I just couldn’t get it. But some years later, churches moved to a more accurate translation: Holy Spirit. That helped, although I still felt mildly uncomfortable by its abstractness. Then I started my scripture studies as I worked toward ministry, and learned that in both the Hebrew of the Jewish Bible and the Greek of the New Testament, the words we translate as spirit also mean breath. Ah! The Breath of God! Then I recalled the old hymn, Breathe on Me, Breath of God and it all came together for me – made it more personal and relatable.
So let us pray the words of that hymn, and open the doors of our hearts and let the Breath of God blow through!
Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew. That I may love what Thou dost love, and do what Thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me, Breath of God, till I am wholly Thine.
Until this earthly part of me glows with Thy fire divine. Amen
Daily Message Author: Bob Griffiths
Bob is the former Chaplain at the Pines of Sarasota, southwest Florida’s oldest and largest not-for-profit senior care facility. Prior to joining the staff in 2010, Bob worked in hospice chaplaincy for seven years. He is the past Spiritual Life Director at St. Boniface Episcopal Church, Sarasota and is an Associate of the Order of the Holy Cross, an Episcopal Benedictine religious order.
