I can’t breathe. 

Those were the last words George Floyd spoke before he was crushed to death by a Minneapolis police officer. This tragic event has happened in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic where we have experienced over two months of isolation, uncertainty… and in its most extreme form, coronavirus itself has led to a fear of breathing.

I can’t breathe.

In John’s gospel we read how Jesus breathed on his friends and said “receive the Holy Spirit”.  Paul and Ellen leading our All Age Service this Sunday continue to celebrate Pentecost, the day which Jesus’ words came to fruition.

Breath. Fire. Symbols of life and yet the fires in American cities come about because people are protesting against the loss of life.

I can’t breathe.

Maybe we struggle to breathe in the reality of what is going on in the world because we don’t know what it is to be choked  … or maybe we do. We feel the weight of being crushed not necessarily because of our colour but life has been hard. 

I can’t breathe.

Jesus came to reverse what chokes us.  Jesus came to reverse what crushes us.  Jesus came to breathe life into us.

My prayer for each of us this week is that through Jesus’ death, his resurrection and life that He invites us to live we will stand with those who utter “I can’t breathe” until our united declaration is “I can”.

Astrid Vaswani