[Near silence] [One slow breath] Take a breath. [Pause] Did you do that? Of course... You can control... A breath. In... Out... Hold it... Release it. But tonight... When you fall asleep... Who will remember... To breathe? [Long pause] You won't have to. You never have. Long before... You understood lungs... Long before... You knew the word... Oxygen... Long before... You learned... That breathing keeps you alive... The breath... Was already breathing. [Soft drone begins] Think about that. Before you knew... What breath was... It was there. Before you knew... Who you were... It was there. Before you learned... Your own name... It was there. Breathing... This little body... That had no idea... How to breathe itself. [Pause] So which came first? Your understanding... Or Life? [Long pause] Scripture says... God... "Breathed into his nostrils... The breath of life." And the dust... Became... A living soul. [Pause] The dust was formed. But it wasn't alive. Something... Had to enter... The dust. Something... The dust... Could not give itself. [Music slowly widens] And here you are... Still breathing. Thousands... And thousands... And thousands... Of breaths. Most of them... Never requested. Never commanded. Never even noticed. [Pause] So... Who... Is breathing? [Long silence] You may say... My body. But a body... Without Life... Doesn't breathe. You may say... My brain. But what keeps... The brain alive? [Pause] Follow it... All the way back. Not looking... For an answer. Just noticing... How quickly... The thing you call... My body... Leads you... To a mystery. [Subtle heartbeat enters] Your heart beats... Without permission. Your blood moves... Without instruction. Cells repair... Without consultation. And breath... Returns... Again... And again... And again. Even when... You forget about it. [Long pause] Perhaps... Life does not need... Your attention... In order... To be Life. Perhaps... You are not... Making Life happen. Perhaps... You are experiencing... Life... Happening. [Music becomes warmer] Jesus said... "The Spirit... Breatheth where it listeth... And thou hearest... The sound thereof... But canst not tell... Whence it cometh... And whither it goeth." [Long pause] Spirit. Breath. Life. Invisible. Yet... Here. [Very long pause] Take another breath. Slowly. Feel it enter. Feel it leave. But this time... Don't call it... My breath. Just... Feel... Breathing. [Music begins disappearing] And ask... Very quietly... Am I... Breathing Life? Or is Life... Breathing... Me? [Long silence] Don't answer. The next breath... Is already coming. [Two minutes of slowly evolving ambience] Notice... What remains. [Silence]
