Christian Mindfulness – every breath you breathe

When I was 7 years old I started to read books. I came across C.S Lewis’ Narnia series. I was captivated by the stories of this magical kingdom and its Lion king Aslan. When I read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe I recognised in this story the similarity of Aslan’s death, to the death and resurrection of Jesus. I saw in Aslan, a Jesus figure who died to save Edmund’s life. I even went to my grade 2 teacher and complained that the author had copied the Bible. She was kind and said that C.S Lewis wrote his story deliberately for children to understand why Jesus died. The teacher called it an allegory. I read the books avidly from that time on and imagined Aslan as my friend just like he was a friend to the 4 children in the story. I imagined Jesus as this big maned lion who speaks in a voice that almost takes your breath away when you hear it. I became a follower of Jesus in that 7th year of my life.

Who gives you your breath?  Who takes your breath away at the end of your life?  It is God who gives and takes away.  In the Hebrew language of the Bible, the word for breath is closely associated with the word for spirit-Ruach.  When you stop breathing  for the final time, your spirit departs from your body.  So our breath is vital for life, and has been given to us by God just like our spirit comes from God who is a Spirit. In the bible the word for Spirit and breath and wind are sometimes interchangeable.

John 3:8 NIV  The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

John 4:23-24 NIV  “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Mindfulness meditation focusses on breathing because of the calming effect of slow breathing.  However, I challenge my readers to notice their breath because it is a gift from God.  When I became a follower of Jesus – I also received His Holy Spirit within me as a gift from God.  So my focus when I am being mindful is to thank God for every breath, every inspiration and expiration. Just as Jesus breathed on his disciples to receive the Holy Spirit, I imagine Jesus breathing on me.  By faith I receive the same Holy Spirit. So I can thank God for giving me His Holy Spirit.  I ask the Holy Spirit to flow in my breath and to give me inspiration and revelation.  I don’t focus on my breathing as in other meditative practices-but  I am grateful for my breath and I bring my focus to my Heavenly Father who gave me each breath and the gift of the Holy Spirit. As I grew older I had further experiences with the Holy Spirit which I will write about in later blogs.

I want to finish with a short passage from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe which illustrates breath and life and spirit. If you don’t know the story of the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe- I will give a short summary. Narnia is a magical land where a White Witch has ruled for a very long time and made the seasons always winter.  A prophecy from long ago, has predicted that one day 4 children will come and be crowned kings and queens when Aslan returns. Into this land 4 English children (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy), stumble as they enter through a magical wardrobe at different times. First Lucy enters and meets a faun called Tumnus who initially wanted to capture her to take her to the witch but then he realises that he really likes Lucy and decides to send her back through the wardrobe. Next Edmund enters and meets the witch who enchants him with sweets and promises to make him a ruler over his brother and sisters. Later when all four children enter Narnia they meet a talking beaver and his wife who warn the children of the dangers of the White Witch. But Edmund decides to go off on his own to find the Palace of the Witch. The other three children realise how dangerous the witch is and they set off to rescue their brother. The witch is very angry and has made her enemies stone. She is desperate to capture the children to stop the prophecy from coming true.  She ties Edmund up and plans to use him against Aslan.

The three children meet Aslan.  Aslan has a showdown with the wicked witch and in the process makes a secret deal to offer himself in exchange for Edmund. The witch ties Aslan to a stone table and slays him with a knife while the two sisters watch from a distance.  Later they weep tears over Aslan’s body as a group of mice come to gnaw at the ropes binding his body. The stone table breaks into two pieces and Aslan comes back to life. The girls hop onto Aslan’s back as they fly through the air to the witch’s palace.

Here they discover all the creatures turned into stone by the witch’s spells. I quote from the book from here on.

“What an extraordinary place!” cried Lucy.  “All these stone animals – and people too! It’s – it’s like a museum.”

“Hush,” said Susan, “Aslan is doing something.”

He was indeed. He had bounded up to the stone lion and breathed on him. Then without waiting a moment he whisked round – almost as if he had been a cat chasing its tail – and breathed also on the stone dwarf, which (as you remember) was standing a few feet from the lion with his back to it. Then he pounced on a tall stone dryad which stood beyond the dwarf, turned rapidly aside to deal with a stone rabbit on his right, and rushed on to two centaurs.  But at that moment Lucy said,

“Oh Susan! Look! Look at the lion.”

I expect you’ve seen someone put a lighted match to a bit of newspaper which is propped up in a grate against an unlit fire. And for a second nothing seems to have happened; and then you notice a tiny streak of flame creeping along the edge of the newspaper. It was like that now. For a second after Aslan had breathed upon him the stone lion looked just the same. Then a tiny streak of gold began to run along his marble back – then it spread – then the colour seemed to lick all over him as the flame licks all over a bit of paper – then, while his hindquarters were still obviously stone, the lion shook his mane and all the heavy, stone folds rippled into living hair. Then he opened a great red mouth, warm and living, and gave a prodigious yawn. And now his hind legs had come to life. He lifted one of them and scratched himself. Then, having caught sight of Aslan, he went bounding after him and frisking round him whimpering with delight and jumping up to lick his face.

Lewis C.S (1950) The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe Pages 152-153 Penguin Books Australia 1979 edition.

I love the imagery used by C.S Lewis in this book. I encourage you to be grateful for every breath you breathe. It is my hope that as Aslan breathes on you- you will be free from the enchanter’s curse, and free to frolic with your King.