Breathe deeply and go

            Jesus said, “Peace be with you.
                        As God has sent me, so I send you.”
            When he had said this, he breathed on them
                        and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
            If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them;
                        if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
                           —John 20.21-23

This is why Jesus has been raised from the dead:
to give us his Spirit.
This is how Jesus has been raised from the dead:
not in his own body now but ours:
we, the Body of the risen Christ.
God now sends us as Jesus,
to forgive.

When we forgive, all are set free.
When we retain sins we are stuck with them,
the burden ours as much as theirs.
But we are Spirit, sent to be free,
and to set free.
Breathe in all judgment.
Breathe out God’s grace.

God breathes us into the world,
grace-filled and free.
Breathe deeply, and go.

Breath prayer: + Free … to forgive +

                           —April 20, 2017