Name one aspect of human life that you are currently taking for granted? If someone posed that question to you right now as you read this post, how would you respond? Might your answer be that we are not self-made people as I describe in the post Belly Button? Or for those who are entering Emerging Elderhood or are already Elderly Slow, would your answer revolve around one of the five senses that has diminished or been lost?
For the past few days, my Divine Activating System has been focused on the automatic reflex of breathing. Even as I sit here at the keyboard, just typing those words forces my brain to recognize that I am indeed breathing at this very moment. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. God created our bodies in such a miraculous way that it knows how to engage in this activity even when we are asleep. Just take a moment to reflect on this aspect of life or consider a time when it was difficult to breathe. My experiences with struggling for a breath are typically related to cold/allergy discomfort, maybe walking outside in the southern August heat, or overestimating how long I can stay under while swimming; but for others, their reality requires/ed them to hyperfocus on just taking their next breath.
While reading Jeremy Renner’s memoir entitled My Next Breath about his near-fatal accident in January 2023, I was enthralled with his sense of awareness and consciousness throughout the ordeal. The book description on Amazon emphasizes that “Jeremy writes in blistering detail about his accident and the aftermath. This retelling is not merely a gruesome account of what happened to him; it’s a call to action and a forged companionship between reader and author as Jeremy recounts his recovery journey and reflects on the impact of his suffering.”
One thing that fascinated me in his retelling was how he emphasized both the importance of grit (or what I would refer to as a Habit of Resilience), and mindset in his recovery. Another powerful aspect of his story relates to his emphasis on hope. Renner shares, “There’s one word for all of this: hope. Hope is what everyone needs to exist in a state of joy and forward motion. If you don’t have hope, you’re going to die.” I completely agree with this statement; I just see his hope with a capital H instead of lowercase. As Renner longed for Restored Breath, he was describing the Hope that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ, recognizing God as our Creator. Now, I would encourage you to read a colleague’s Transplant story (link below) and contrast her Hope with Jeremy’s hope.
It is Kelly’s Hope for Restored Breath that I was reminded of as the lyrics from “Leaning On” played recently: When I can barely breathe, you will fill my lungs. It is this type of life restoration that also came to mind when reading Margaret Feinberg’s Wonderstruck as she describes speaking life into others the same way that God breathes life into us. “Breathing life begins with the simplest of actions. See someone. Really see. As you reach out and interact, offer your full attention to whoever is in front of you. Listen to someone. Really listen. Give someone the gift of presence—your fully present, undivided attention. Pray for someone. Really pray.” Does this not challenge you to mindfully consider the awesome and amazing Power of Presence—both our presence with others and His Presence in our lives?
None of us know how many times we will inhale or exhale in our lifetime and while many experts will offer the health benefits of mindful breathing, I offer you Hope in the One who can provide a Restored Breath—either in this earthly life or the one to come.
Please read an amazing Transplant story about my colleague Kelly Harden here: Living Both Sides of Life-and-Death Care
References:
Amazon. (2025, August 24). My Next Breath: A Memoir. https://www.amazon.com/My-Next-Breath-Jeremy-Renner/dp/1250383536
Feinberg, M. (2012). Wonderstruck: Awaken to the nearness of God. Hachette Books.
McWhirter, S. (2025). Leaning on [Song]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yI2kvmtcUc&list=RD5yI2kvmtcUc&start_radio=1
Renner, J. (2025). My Next Breath. Flatiron Books.
Flourishing @ Life 
I love this blog post! There are so many times in my life when I need a “restored breath.” I am thankful for my faith that allows me to look to Hope for restoration when I need it. The text you shared, Wonder Struck, sounds like such an interesting story! Sadly, often it does take near-death experiences to remind us that our life is but a vapor. I also like how you tied Hope into this reality. Without Hope, we cannot live a flourishing life. Just as near-death experiences make us more aware of God’s presence, we need Hope to carry us through with purpose. I do not want to wait for a tragic experience to make me turn to the Lord. I want to be restored each day as I draw nearer to Him and His presence.
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After reading the first paragraph of this blog where it talked about “naming one thing that you are taking for granted right now” really made me think of all the different things in life that I am taking for granted. The one thing was having food to eat everyday and not having to worry when my next meal will be. When I reflect on myself I realize that I take so many precious things for granted and that is something that I truly want to get better at. As the blog transitioned to the idea of breath this really resonated with me. This is because like the blog mentioned our bodies are blessed with the ability to breathe without having to think about it. The idea of taking a moment to reflect on a time “when it was difficult to breathe” (Para 2 Line 6-7) really made me think. Although I don’t think this was the intention it made me realize how lucky I am to be able to be out of breath. To me that can be seen in the ability to do physical activity/ sports and have the opportunity to work myself out of breath. This is because I know there are a lot of people in the world that have certain physical limitations that cause them to not be able to participate in sports and physical activity. This blog made me realize how fortunate I truly am to push myself physically and lose my breath because I feel like that is definitely something that I take for granted. God has blessed us with the ability to breath and to lose our breath and to appreciate that is very important like it was mentioned in the blog.
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