On Sunday night at SNL I shared a Nooma video with the youth. It is titled “Breathe” and is done by Pastor Rob Bell. Rob introduces an interesting concept that name of God written in the Old Testament can actually be heard as a breath. In our English text, it is often spelled as LORD, however in the Hebrew language it is spelled YWHW. Each letter is said with an aspiration or an exhale when spoken in Hebrew. The very name of God is the breath that gives us life. I’ve watched his video probably about 10 times now and every time I’ve seen it, I pick up something new. Last night I shared with the youth my new insight.

We often live in two different worlds. We live in the world of Church on Sundays and then we live in the world of Everything Else. With this idea that the very name of God is what gives us life, this breath is living in everyone, no matter what they say or what they believe. This means that everywhere we step, no matter if it is in the “Church” world or if it is in the “Everything Else” world, that ground is Holy. We should remind ourselves every day that God is in us all and how we treat others is a direct reflection of how we treat God. When we love someone, we are loving God. When we hurt someone, we are hurting God too. Let us try to recognize that with each breath we take, we are speaking God’s name and that everywhere we go, God is with us.

If you would like to watch the video, you can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L5IpquIlBI