Breathing

We have this notion that we need to find God however God is not lost.


We are the ones adrift.  I often have found that I am “closer” to God when I am out biking and enjoying the solitude of a beautiful bike ride.  But then God has never been far away.  It has only been my perception.  It is not God who has disappeared, it has been my focus that has been missing.  We get caught up in our day-to-day lives and we loss the more important details of what life is and what life needs to be. 

Some years ago, someone close to me was in Intensive Care and struggling to breathe, I needed to step outside and gather my emotions.  In was in the middle of November on a cold night and I was suddenly conscious of my own breathing. It is incredibly amazing how even breathing is at the heart of complexity and beauty of God’s work.  We breathe between 16-20 times a minute, or up to thirty thousand times a day.  We don’t stop to think about all of this activity, and yet this activity we take for granted is as fragile as it is powerful.  God’s work is within us every moment of every day. He is in every breath we take, in every beat of our hearts.

Ever since that cold night in November, I have learned to appreciate the value of breathing.  When I think I am “lost”, I stop and take a deep breath and think of the graceful moments that God has given us, the breath of life. 

How to Find Us





Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Iowa City

Gathered by grace. Scattered for service.

123 E Market Street
Iowa City, IA 52245