Yahweh, the Giver of Lifeনমুনা

The Breath of Life

The young boy asked his father, “Papa, where do we come from?” He had a tendency for asking profound questions.

The father, in his most simplistic manner replied, “We come from God, our Creator.” He could read his child’s expression of curiosity when his miniature brows furrowed slightly.

“You see, in the beginning, God made all living things. He spoke them into existence.” The father motioned with his hands encircled around his mouth, “…the sky, the sun, the moon and the stars, the oceans, the plants and all the animals. And finally, on the sixth day of creation, God scooped up dust from the ground and formed the first man: Adam.”

Now with a ball of playdough within his palms, he molded it into a body and continued: “We all have the image and likeness of our Creator—his prints are on us, like a sculpture made by an artist.”

The child continued his interrogation, “My teacher says that when we paint in school, we’re like artists too! But our paintings don’t come to life, papa.”

“No, they don’t. And that’s what makes us so special, son. We live and move and have our being because God’s breath is in our lungs!”

“No way!”, clamored the youngster. “How do we have God’s breath?”

“He blew the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils! And in the Bible’s language, the word breath can also mean spirit, the Spirit that gives us life and wisdom.”

The boy nodded and smiled in agreement as he inhaled as deep as he could, “I have the breath of life in me.” He pressed his chest with both hands as if deflating it while he exhaled slowly.

This story is to remind you that God’s breath and Spirit abides in you, child of God. Ancient Jewish scholars taught that His Name wasn’t to be spoken because it was too holy for human lips. But with our every inhalation and exhalation, we pronounce His divine Name: “YaH-WeH”. It is the breath of life and the essence of our being. As His creative masterpieces, there’s all but one thing left to say: “Let everything that hath breath, praise the name of Yahweh!”