Breathe. Reflection on June 5, 2020

Photo credit: The Sacramento Bee

Breathing.
Inhale.  Exhale.  
Transformation of waste into nourishment.  
Life itself captured in the cycle of a breath. 

As I read the news this morning, two images jumped from the screen.  This one:

In an accompanying story, Biden was quoted,  “George Floyd’s last words — ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe’ — have echoed across our nation.”  

And this one, an advertisement across the top of the same page: “Just breathe” on a pretty sweatshirt. 

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Photo credit: Annie Cloth advertisement

​These two images, in contrast, illuminate the vastly different lives people are experiencing in America in 2020.  

These two images, side by side, bear the question: 
Do you believe that, in our country, such stark disparities should exist? 

One image implies that the wearer should enjoy life, and 'let go' or 'exhale' all the rest.  The other image implies that breath (life) itself is threatened. 

This is not a question of socialism.  This is not a question of who works harder or who pays the most taxes.  This is not Republican v. Democrat. 

When you look into the eyes of a fellow human being, do you believe that they “should” have access to air, clean water, food, shelter, safety….

Or, do you believe that those precious resources are reserved for people who “deserve” them.  (Models of who is “deserving” will vary).  

Do you believe there is “enough”?

And if you do, or if your spiritual tradition calls you to act for those who are persecuted, it leads to the next question:  What will you do about it?  it  

Breath, one thing that inarguably unites all living beings.  Breath—the site where the parasympathetic and autonomic nervous system are both in play: the site where what we can and cannot control meet.   

Humanity's collective gift is that we imagine futures we then create.  We have made the moment we are in.  
​
What will we do next?