Just Breathe

............Title is not a reference to Faith Hill's song, "Breathe," or Anita Renfroe's parody of that song, "Don't Breathe."  :-)

I had an eye exam today because about a month ago, my right eye was noticeably blurry and felt different for a couple of days.  I had some friends (my faithful Bunko girlfriends) tell me that I had better make an appointment to figure our what was going on.

Well, it turns out that my right eye is swollen from years of constant contact lens wear.  My current brand of contacts are not as air-permeable as some other, newer brands, so it seems that because of lack of oxygen, the pressure in my eye has built up.  Fortunately, it looks as if switching contact brands may be enough to handle the situation, but as I drove away, I thought that this situation is strongly representative of how I go through life sometimes.

When I don't have time to breathe, the pressure builds up.  Eventually, it causes me to not see things clearly.  If I don't stop and take time to breathe, the pressure will continue to build until there truly is a big problem (and believe me, this has happened!). So, the challenge is for me to try to arrange my days, and therefore my life, in such a manner that breathing time is built in.  

This all reinforces what the book Margin is about.  Instead of arranging our days with enough margin around all the edges, most of us are just living our days on the go with the words (our lives) pouring off the page in all directions.  Where is our margin; where is our breathing space?  I don't get the Oprah magazine anymore, but I remember that there was a feature called, Breathing Space, in each issue.  It was a photograph covering a two-page spread that was supposed to help us settle down and breathe as we took in the beautiful nature image.  

To live with time to breathe is going to be counter-cultural and will require a great degree of being willing to sacrifice "things" in order to "be."  It is when I am "be"ing that I am able to breathe in the presence of God, to center myself in Him, and to not let the pressure build.  To be honest, even though I long to do this, it seems to be exceedingly difficult for me to figure out how to make this a reality.  I have been in prayer over this, and not coincidentally, I've asked a small group of women to pray for "clarity" for me.  Rather appropriate considering my eye ordeal, don't you think?

And, just to carry the analogy a little further......Just as the contact lens is centered on my eye and is what I see through, so my life must be centered in Him, and I must see through His lens. I must have time to breathe in His presence and peace to be able to keep the pressure from building and to see clearly.  A goal I will continue to pray and work towards.