Just Breathe

“When we have learned to use it, the breath becomes a support for awareness.” – Jack Kornfield

Last night I dreamed I lived in a one-room apartment in a big city. There was no roof on the apartment. I was lying in bed with my husband and looking at the wide open night sky watching the stars, the planes going by and the twinkling of lights on the tall buildings surrounding the apartment. The noise was terrible but the screaming coming from the next apartment is what I found most disturbing. And then I realized it was my son and the screams were real.

Before my husband and I could question why our son was screaming from the first floor of his home, I heard the screams of his wife calling to me, “Mimi, Mimi, Mimi.” I flew down the stairs to find our grandson choking on the mucus from his cough and shaking and burning up with fever. I’m not sure if they handed him to me or I took him out of their arms but the maternal instinct in me kicked in and I suddenly found myself holding my grandson who was struggling to breathe.

My first inclination was to bring the fever down so I ordered (yes ordered) my husband into the shower, and he did as I said. But I realized what I needed to do is calm the baby down and stop the shaking and crying. I sat down on the bench at the foot of my son’s bed and laid Hayden across my lap on his stomach. My son called 911, my husband got out of the wet clothes from standing in the shower and brought my daughter-in-law a cool washrag which she used to gently bath the baby’s head. We all took a deep breath and watched as Hayden’s sobs turned to heavy breathing to peaceful breathing as I rubbed his back and we whispered comforting words. Finally asleep, the EMS arrived and whisked him and his mother off to T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital. Two hours later we were home and all is well. Hayden will be fine thanks to the quick action of his parents, his grandparents, the EMS and the staff at the hospital.

Driving back home, I got to thinking about my dream of being surrounded in the chaos of the city noise and then waking to the chaos of my grandson struggling to breathe and that quiet strength that gave me the power to be present in my grandson’s life. At the center of my being is peace because my center and source is God. Surrounded by the presence of God, all of us in the room felt supported and aware of the peace of God. It is all good.

“The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” -- Philippians 4:7

Seeing With Clear Vision – January 24, 2011