BREATHLESS by Ben WItherington III

Air expelled,
Expected to return…
Fleeting, fleeing
Into the atmosphere

Crystaline cloud
In January
Yet disappearing quickly,
Gone where?
Does air dissipate in air?

‘And God breathed
Into the earth creature Adam
And he quickened’

Into life
Into lies
Into living a lie
His death knell
Takes your breath away….

Breath/wind/ spirit
It’s all the same in Hebrew/Greek
All invisible
Indivisible
Essential
Quintessential.

Breathing is involuntary
Until we breathe our last
But oddly Spirit enters
At our bidding
But who knows
Which way the Pentecost wind blows?

A body is animated by life breath
Hence a living being
But a resurrection body
Is animate entirely, permanently, powerfully
By his Spirit, hence a spiritual body.

Immune to disease, decay, death
Suffering, sin, sorrow…..

But if so— need we breathe
In the new creation?
I’ll not hold my breath
Waiting to find out.

Speak to the bones again Ezekiel
Tell them to join forces,
It’s time for God’s people to rise up again

No longer breathless….
No longer lifeless…
No longer listless,
Lying in waiting
For heaven’s gate.