ON THE VANGUARD

BREATH OF GOD
“The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
Genesis 2:7

Have you ever watched pottery being made? A couple years back while at the county fair, my kids and I stopped in at an exhibit and demonstration where a lady was working to create pottery. The shelves were stacked with different sized and shaped bowls, plates, cups, and pitchers. But in addition to seeing her finished work we were also able to watch her in the process of creating. I remember watching her throw a slab on clay on her wheel and gentle push the peddle to create speed. As the whole lump began to spin faster and faster, she used her fingers to indent and form this blob into something more. Within only a short few minutes a bowl was formed, perfect in every way and ready to be dried by the heat of the sun. She had taken what was void of form and in her own way, breathed life into it making her own unique dish.
I cannot say I am any good when it comes to working with clay. Whether it be a lack of experience or just a lack of talent altogether, I know that creating any kind of dish that is worthy to be viewed by the public is not my forte. But I have to admit, I am relieved. Yet when I consider forming pottery I cannot help but think about how God made man. Genesis 1:27 tells us that God made us in His image. That part I can understand. But to think that God was able to make something from nothing is as mind boggling to me as watching a potter create an artwork from a mound of clay.
When God was ready to make man, He did so by using dirt. I wish I knew more of how God did it as opposed to the ideas that I have in my brain, but for now my ideas will have to suffice. God probably gathered in His hands a scoop of dirt and began turning it, playing with it, loosening it and voiding it of rocks and other debris. I can see God now wanting it to be the purest of dirt. But then I can see God beginning to mold it. I’m sure He did mold to some degree if we were fashioned after Him (Gen 1:27) and there were nostrils to breathe into (Gen 2:7). When the forming was done, however, and God looked at what He saw with great pride, He breathed into the dirt man His breath of life.
I have to be honest, my life has not gone the way I hoped it would when I left home back in 1993. I have seen the view from the mountains at times, like graduation from college or the birth of my children, but I have also seen my share of views from the desert too, like dealing with divorce or more recently the passing of my dad. I know that in the good and bad God has always been with me. I guess what I am trying to say is that just as God breathed into the dirt his breath which gave Adam life, so I need to be revived. Contemplating, I feel like for so long I have been drowning or short of breath and in need of God’s breath blowing again on me and in me, like spiritual CPR. I need His revival of my spirit, His presence to envelope me and once again form me into a living being as opposed to the monotonous robot that I sometimes feel I am.
The potter breathes life into his creation. The songwriter breathes life into a song. The journalist breathes life into his story. And God breathes life into man. It is that life that I again seek. Breath of God, breathe again into me.