Nafas Al Rahman

Every Religion attributes some affinity towards the wind, breath, air or Spirit to God. In Yoga, there is an independent discipline on breathing called Pranayama. Ibn Arabi a famous Sufi scholar spoke of God as: ‘The source of the universe is the breath of the Merciful, the NAFAS AL RAHMAN”, To Allah is attributed breath which is very much like our Holy Spirit. Abortion is prohibited in Islam because; the Muslims believe the fetus is blessed by the spirit of Allah. Those who approach Hindu sages for blessing, he breathes the Vibuti, the sacred ash which takes away the evil spirit in you.

This spirit of God gave the apostles the power to speak languages. Speaking different languages is an art and a great skill. (Salesian – Indonesian). There are quite a few languages spoken at home and outside and if we are ignorant we miss the meaning. Most of the failures in relationships are due to the inability to understand languages: husband speaking Hebrew and wives speaking Greek! Most of the religious practices are still done in Latin and young people don’t understand Latin. Kids teach us lessons in Aramaic and we don’t know Aramaic. Priests always speak in Sanskrit and once a year English and that one day we couldn’t attend service because we were in Hawaii. All the TV shows and rumors are always in English. If we are confused we are convinced and all our convictions are so confusing!

The extreme situation on speaking languages that I know of was when our seminary cook married a man who never spoke her language. I asked her how she could manage and she said that she will get used to it soon. How do we actually speak another person’s language? Gospel is clear: It is the Spirit of God that works through us. The Nicene Creed acclaims the Holy Spirit as GIVER OF LIFE. From the time Adam was fashioned to the present God never stopped breathing on us. We time and again stop breathing and die!

Wisdom is our dialogue with God: we speak the same language of God. Understanding is the language we use when people are irrational, unjust, punishing and unforgiving. Counsel or right judgment is the language of responsibility with which we lead our family and children. Fortitude or Courage is the language we speak when faced with temptation, fear and guilt. Knowledge is the language we speak when we want to know someone intimately, his or her likes and dislikes, interests and motivations. Piety or Reverence is the language we speak when speak to God and elders. Fear of the Lord or Sense of Wonder is the language we speak when we thank God for all the great things we received in life.

The signs of our inability to discern the movements of Spirit in us lead us to folly, wrong judgment, cowardice, ignorance, irreligious attitudes and the denial of God. This should not be understood as the absence of the Spirit, since the promise of Jesus is clear that Spirit is given to us. The gifts of the Spirit seem far because of our ability to let the Spirit take possession of us and our inability to speak no language at all. We have learnt to speak the language of animals and demons! God gave us the language to love and be united. We leant the language by first speaking with our Mother – God Himself.

Like the dirt coming to life and the dead bones coming to life, a gentle breeze to cool our hearts and minds, Holy Spirit is breathed into us by Jesus to speak the language of love. I believe we speak the same language here! At least once!