Breath, Spirit, and Peace
“The Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being ”
As you read these familiar words, I invite you quietly to bring attention to your own breath. It is this very “breath of life” that sustains and gives life to our mortal bodies at every moment of our lives.
We all live busy lives, and that pace of life keeps us suspended on the surface of our consciousness, reacting to what we perceive, with very little bandwidth left to fathom the deeper levels of our spirits. What we need is a prayer that brings us back to the presence of God just when our minds seem to have wandered to the farthest point of the circumference of our being. God does not leave us, but we certainly can be “outside” of ourselves all too often. How can we come home to ourselves and return to the presence of God who dwells within us at every moment?
I will share with you the practice that has become an anchor for my awareness in the past year. It is simply called the “breath prayer” or the “active prayer.” It is an updated form of a classic Christian practice known as the “Jesus Prayer,” which has been embraced by many since the early centuries of Christianity. It is a way of living out the advice of St. Paul, “to pray without ceasing.” The prayer itself is quite simple. I choose a short, seven to nine syllable prayer phrase that I say over and over again in connection with my breathing. The purpose of this repetition is to allow the prayer to permeate the subconscious. As this happens, the old commentaries that play like tapes in our mind, are gradually erased and the breath prayer takes their place. In upsetting situations, when commentaries arise such as “Why is this happening to me?”, “I can’t believe he said that,” etc., are replaced by this prayer, creating a moment of awareness before the commentaries engage our negative emotions, so that we can decide how to respond, instead of reacting from our emotional programs.
This is more than a psychological effect, but a way of letting the Spirit of God pray in us. The very word “breath” comes from the same root word for “spirit.” With faith’s keen perception, we can experience the presence of the Spirit as our breath. The breath of life becomes the Spirit praying in us.
Last year, when introduced to this practice, I prayerfully considered what phrase I might use, and immediately the antiphon for Psalm 131 came to mind: “In You, O Lord, I have found my peace.” I put this prayer into practice, inhaling on the phrase “In You, O Lord,” and exhaling on the phrase, “I have found my peace.” Little by little over the months that followed, this prayer worked its way into my mind and heart. Repetition took some effort in the beginning (taping the prayer to my computer, writing it in my notebook…whatever it took!). As it gradually seeped into my whole being, this prayer not only resonated within me; it took on a life of its own, as it actualized in my day-to-day activities the peace for which I prayed.
Over a year later, I can hardly recount all the times that this prayer has gently surfaced within me when I needed it most. My favorite instance of experiencing the fruit of this prayer came about in a humorous and memorable way: Last spring, I arrived at one of our Oblate houses for a few days’ visit, and within minutes found myself unclogging a
toilet in the guest bathroom! As I stood there (with plunger in hand!), what thought came to my mind? “In You, O Lord, I have found my peace!” More than once, I have woken up during the night with this prayer already in my breathing without needing to think about it. I realized that I was no longer praying the prayer; it was “praying” me.
My hope is that sharing this prayer and experience with you will encourage you to seek out a way of grounding yourself in God’s presence on a regular basis so that you can experience how that presence gradually shapes your thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions. In your own way, how can you “pray without ceasing”?
Mr. Matthew Trovato, OSFS
Oblate Seminarian
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