I may be a bit different from most folks, but I enjoy mowing. Mowing was one of the first chores that I did for my grandfather when I was a kid and it was one of my first paying summer jobs. As an adult, it became one of the few times each week that I could pray, think, and ponder without interruption. In recent years, the opportunity to do this chore has diminished as I’ve delegated it to my children. However, I still periodically get to perform this chore and, on the last weekend of June this year, I found myself pushing the mower across our yard.

Up until that point, we had been blessed with a relatively mild spring in the Carolinas. However, on this particular day, temperatures had reached the 90’s and humidity was high. I usually wear a bandana or neck gaiter over my nose and mouth when I mow to prevent my allergies from flaring up. On this particular day, as I pushed the mower up a slight hill, I struggled to breathe through the neck gaiter due to the heat, humidity, and dust. In a moment of spontaneity, I thought, and may have even said out loud, “I can’t breathe!”

If there has been a theme for this year, it might just be “I can’t breathe!”. The year started with reports of the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, spreading across the globe. Once the pandemic was worldwide, everything changed. From what we currently know about this illness, the virus attaches itself to healthy cells, hijacks them, takes command, and eventually can kill some of the cells. This virus especially affects a person’s respiratory tract and lungs. In other words, it affects our ability to breathe. In May of this year, the world heard George Floyd cry out, “I can’t breathe!” as his life slipped away. “I can’t breathe” subsequently became a rallying cry of the social justice movement. Then, on this last weekend in June, a rusty haze covered the east coast of the United States, including the Carolinas where we live. I looked out across the pasture across the road from our home and could see the rusty haze along the tree line. This haze was the result of a Saharan dust storm that traveled thousands of miles across the Atlantic ocean. While it is not unusual for this dust storm to travel across the Atlantic ocean, this year’s storm was particularly intense because of its large size and the fact that it held together during the journey across the ocean. It was an anomaly that created a rusty orange haze and some spectacular sunsets. However, reports indicated that, if inhaled, the dust could irritate a person’s airways and cause respiratory issues. Again, it could attack a person’s ability to breathe.

A human can survive without food for about sixty days and can survive without water for about four days. However, we can survive without breathing for only about three minutes (the world record for holding one’s breath is 24 minutes and 3 seconds). Breathing is our most immediate physical need. In fact, you’ve probably taken over fifty or so breaths, without even thinking about it, while you’ve read this post.

Scripture tells us that God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Genesis 2:7. After forming man, breath was the first gift God gave mankind. This gift gave life as scripture further tells us that after God gave Adam breath, Adam became a living creature. Genesis 2:7. We often take this gift for granted until it is taken from us, as has been demonstrated this year. For some, their breath has physically been taken. For others, it has metaphorically been taken through fear, anxiety, uncertainty, stress, illness, loss of jobs and the list goes on and on. A lot of the worldly things that we’ve leaned on have been shaken. So what are we to do? I don’t have the answers to the problems we face. However, we can draw close to God… the same God that gave Adam the breath that has been passed on to us. He is the “Breath-Giver” and if he gave breath to Adam, he can sustain that breath in us. Scripture says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8 ESV. Draw near to God, the God that gave us breath, today and He will draw near to you.