I usually like to use this article to talk about what I am going to talk about on Sundays. It allows those of you reading to get a glimpse of what our church services are going to be based on, and also allows me to begin the process of sermon writing.
However, this week I am going to do things a little bit out of order.
Last week I wrote an article discussing the stress of changing the world, of being able to commit to social justice. Of what is required often times to be able to effectively do the work.
My plan was to preach on this last Sunday, and then the fires hit. So, I will be preaching on “doing the work” this Sunday. Now that an article already exists with this sermon I want to take the next page or so to write about coping with stress in times of trauma, more specifically about breath.
There is something Holy about breath. It keeps us alive at the most basic level. Intentional breath can literally slow down a rapidly beating heart.
There are Bible verses about intentionally calming our hearts and minds as well, Psalm 46:10 says to us, “be still and know that I am God” and as we have moved through these hard times as a community I am constantly finding myself remembering these words.
To me, Psalm 46:10 is about more than standing still physically, it is about engaging our hearts and minds as a way of recognizing God’s presence in the world. It is about feeling the Holy in our own bodies, through out breath. This verse is about reclaiming the present, it is about bringing us gently back from when our anxieties and stresses seem to have taken over.
Intentional breath helps us to recognize the moments that we are in, it helps us bring ourselves back from those triggering spaces.
I know that this is a difficult time for us as a community, I know that this week has been filled with stress and anxiety. And in those times and moments I want us to hear the authenticity of this Psalm, of the ask to be still, the ask to know that God is present here, within us and among us, that the Holy spirit is found in our breath and it is something that we all have, that we can all claim even in the most difficult times.
And it may not fix what we are going through, it might not calm the storms around us, but it will calm the storms within us.
Melissa Hurley is Pastor at Kelseyville United Methodist Church and Middletown Community United Methodist Church. Please join us in Kelseyville at 9 a.m. or Middletown at 11 a.m. as we explore the book of Philippians and it’s relevance in our modern lives. All are welcome.
