Caesura: YHWH

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God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them.

Exodus 6:2-3 (NIV)

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Welcome to the second caesura. How has your week been so far? Busy? Hectic? Full of worldly rubbish? Caesura is a literary term for a break in the middle, usually found in poetry. I hope that as we share in time together through these Wednesday blogs, you are able to pause in the mayhem that you may be going through, and take to time to refresh, refocus, and recharge.

For me, this week has meant a return to University life. Not a busy life as many of you would recognise, but challenging in its own unique way. With the high intensity, non-stop nature of uni life, it can be hard to take the time to be with my with Saviour. Juggling the many aspects of life, even on my day off, I find myself busy with the 'things' of life and combined with the constant need for sleep I can sometimes feel like I'm trying to keep my head above the water. I sit to write this blog; I breathe.

Take a breath in, and let it out. Do it again, slowly, and try to mean it. Breathing – of all the things we take for granted, maybe we take it the most. I think about it for a second, and something crosses my mind - in sadness, we breathe heavy sighs. In joy, our lungs feel almost like they will burst. In fear we hold our breath and have to be told to breathe slowly to help us calm down. When we’re about to do something hard, we take a deep breath to find our courage. As I sit in my room at Uni, my thoughts go back to a time at church when I heard a teaching about the moments when Moses had the nerve to ask God what his name is. For many centuries, the name of God was deemed so holy and us so unworthy, that His name was never spoken. However, as we see in the story of Moses and the Israelites, God was gracious enough to answer, and the name he gave is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH. The teacher continued to explain that many scholars believe that in the Hebrew alphabet, the letters translate as the sound of breathing. He explored further what if the name of God is the sound of breathing?

This whole concept is a wonderful thought to me, it would mean that the first thing we say is His name and consequently, the very last thing we say is His name - truly the beginning and the end. But then also, we can’t help but speak His name every moment we’re alive. All of us, always, everywhere, waking, sleeping, with the name of God on our lips. How inspiring is that?

I find myself in a strange position, too busy, not having space for Him, but knowing that if I don't spend time with Him, life is even more hectic. I constantly aspire for more time with Him. Maybe though, it's only through doing this blog that I have come to realise that I don't need more hours in a day, but rather the wisdom to spend them more wisely. I pray to have the strength to better manage my time so that I am good steward of all He has given.

One final thought, sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we just don't have the words to speak but not only will the Holy Spirit intercede on our behalf, if we just breathe, He is there - through it all. Wow!

Reflect today: What can you do to make every breath count? Do you feel overwhelmed? How can you take more time with Him, not necessarily doing anything particularly, but just to breathe?

This is the air I breathe This is the air I breathe Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread This is my daily bread Your very word spoken to me

And I I'm desperate for you And I I'm lost without you

Amen