Come breathe on me, Lord.

Let me take y’all back to 2K1 for a minute, with a song I’m currently obsessing over.

As it is, I fell in love with music a long time ago, and with songs, that paint a picture with words, and music, that takes your body along with it. It is the poetry of the lyrics, the author’s unrefined thoughts shaped and groomed, with a repetitive narrative to a beat your heart would try to catch. I immersed myself in the words of various songs I heard, as God set sail with me through life on the backs of melodies.

I’ve been taking a dive back into the music of my adolescent to young adult years. This was the late 90’s to 2010 Era, and of contemporary Christian music. Recently, I have been smitten with a few songs that brought nostalgia flooding into my life. I have been finding so many songs that I had forgotten over the years.

As a young lady, I can remember experiencing life with a notebook out in my mind, and I’d record moments. It seems I tend to live inside the borders of my mind; and, I tend to hide there, too.

I would write about the background noise that radiated when I sat silently and observed others.

I'd write about the smells of the room, the smells of the trees. I would write down the feeling of the flutters in my stomach, or the sweat of my palms. I would record the music in the air, and label that time of my life by each soundtrack. I can still go back to those tracks and feel the shadows of those moments.

I would write and write and write. When I was alone in my room, I would take those notes and try and relay those moments painted in my memory to words that expressed those colors, onto paper. Whatever the experience, I made sure to take it all in, to feel it, recognize it, sometimes obsess over it, and then appreciate it with words written down on paper.

When a song struck me, that I would obsess over; meaning I would listen to it over and over again while my mind created a mood and, in that mood, I could write until my hands gave out. In this time of my life, is where vivid colors painted my world and words hummed in my ears. Now, in my mind, I sing this song with a guitar in my hands, wearing 90s grunge attire, and I’m in a rock band singing to Jesus.

This song, Breathe on me by Jennifer Knapp. Lyrics like this:

Jennifer Knapp - Breathe on Me

No temptation's seized a man that he can't overcome Who am I to be fallen? Crack Your back on a slab of wood Come freedom, nail it down I come crawling, I come crawling Come trickle down and save the world Through hands that I can't see Come breathe, come breathe Come breathe on me

No temptation's seized a man that he can't overcome Who am I to be fallen?

Crack Your back on a slab of wood 

Come freedom, nail it down 

I come crawling, I come crawling

For those of you who tend to self-loathe, all of us, who tend to do that. Who are we, to be fallen? Who are we that would give into our weaknesses, who are we that say it’s too hard, or who are we to act weary? When God gave of himself, his Godly self, to us, his creation, we wretched nations, we who underappreciate our lives, who are we to be fallen?

A world that was given a savior, so that we may be redeemed. Who are we to be fallen? When with a prayer and rebuke, our lives could be turned around and uplifted to greater purposes, greater feats, and a closer walk with God.

Those wretched nations that we as God’s people live amongst, we crucified Jesus, we whipped him, nailed him to a tree, and watched until his body died. On that grey, black and deathly scented day, Jesus painted the world red. To save a world that condemned him, mocked him, assaulted him. He gave all, and took all to save an ignorant, impatient, narcissistic world.

The breath of Jesus, the world tried to take away, gave power to us, gave power to our every movement, in every moment of our lives. We have God embedded in our hearts and running blood through our veins. How can we, who sin and get to plead forgiveness, how can we be fallen? Sur come to our own bars and boundaries.

Who are we to be fallen to our circumstance, when God sent us a savior that only askes to abide in our lives. I have found that when I ask God to radiate in my life, the radiance comes back into the colors of my life.

Come, breathe on me, Lord.

-AB-

- I CORINTHIANS 10:13 – - JOHN 3:16 -