Let us take a look at THE GIFT OF GRACE: Herein called the spiritual gift, which can be imparted (Rom 1:11). Which impartation is by our breath (1Thes 2:8). Now we are to give thanks unto God for THIS GREAT MYSTERY OF CHRIST (Eph 5:20, 32). Defined as;- THE CAUSE, which is for THE JOINING OF US TOGETHER within that nourishing and cherishing of the church (5:31-29); Meaning;- so that we would be of the spiritual in the heart, because we are filled with the Spirit (5:19-18); Without which we have the walk of fools (5:15). Wherein we are in a fellowship with the works of darkness (5:11).
Those who are partakers of darkness are not the children of light (Eph 5:7-8). Wherein the children of light have the fruits of the Spirit, which have them in THE WALK OF LOVE for righteousness in all goodness in the truth (5:8-9, 2). Note that THIS IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT IS WITHOUT THE WORKS OF THE LAW, which is upon blessed men (Rom 3:21, 4:6). Without which we are covetous fornicators (Eph 5:3). These covetous men are idolaters, because they are without the kingdom of Christ and of God (5:5). Wherein these men are deceivers under the wrath of God as the children of disobedience (5:6).
Rather be a gift of Christ, who is a teacher of Christian PERFECTION (4:7, 11-12). Wherein you are in fellowship with the mystery of �how� to be in heavenly places by Jesus Christ, according to this purpose of God (3:9-11). Defined as;- of the gift of God in His workmanship, so that you too would be crated in Christ for the ordained walk (2:8, 10). Which walk is to love as Jesus loved (5:2); Without which we are covetous fornicators (5:3).
And so we believe that the spirit animates the soul; and that is obviously expressed by �breathing� for life. For without breath we shall perish (Ps 146:4). If God takes away our breath, we die (104:29). This is why God needs to give us breath (Ac 17:25). The human soul contains all of this blessedness, life by God given breath, in God�s good help. The means of breathing itself is not of the soul. While at death the body dissolves, the soul does not. We cannot ascribe more to the soul than God�s word gives to it. Soul is translated as life only in so far as it holds the life of the spirit in God�s blessing of breath [Brother husbandman Philip].
A call to breathe together and walk together is all about recalling the pia conspiratio � �pious breathing together� - which was urged by John Calvin in his Preface to the Catechism and the Confession of Faith [1538], the conference continued our needed commitment to breathe together, if we are going to walk together in our journey together. If we want to prove our obedience to our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, then we must bind ourselves in a pia conspiratio and cultivate peace among ourselves. What? Should not the enemy, the devil himself, drive us to be united with one another? Preface to the Catechism and the Confession of Faith CO 5, 321 [1538]. The literal translation of conspiratio is �breathing together�. The term is normally used to designate �accord� or �harmony�. For Calvin there is no doubt that it held a deeper meaning: How the Christian community can be together in unity.
�conspiracy� because of the interesting Latin derivation of that word To �conspire� comes from the Latin word conspirare, which is made up of com-, together + spirare, to breathe.
The word inspire is very often uttered into the air. �I�m inspired�. �You inspire me.� �That was inspiring.� We are often inspired by those teachers and role models that speak most directly to our hearts, but what does the word inspire really mean? It comes from the Latin �in� which means �inside� or �to infuse with� and �spirare� which means �breath�. In essence to inspire is to infuse with breath! An alternate meaning is to breathe life into! The word �conspire� comes from the Latin �con� meaning �together or to unite� and �spirare� meaning �to breathe�. To conspire is to breathe together. This experience of oneness needs to be nurtured.
Ancient believers �breathed together� [con: �with� and spire: �breath�]. It wasn�t sinister behavior, of course, that held these Christians together. It was their shared sense of grace, their breathing together as the people of God. The contemporary church has exactly this same potential and same requirement. Effective pastoral leaders will have God�s people breathing together, modeling a common way of life that is also good for the world. They will walk people into what Will Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas have referred to as �a community capable of sustaining Christian virtue�. Such a community of togetherness, they reason, will �enable us to be better people than we could have been if left to our own devices�. [Peter W. Marty, senior pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport, Iowa].
The word spirituality comes from that Latin word spiritus, which means breath, energy, courage, vigor, life, and soul [Simpson, 1960]. We often look at the word spirituality as a religious word, but it has a meaning more basic to every one of us. It can be seen as the life force that moves us. It is that element that makes humans different from statues and robots. Other English words derived from spiritus are aspire, respire, inspire, and conspire. The latter word has definitions of both good and evil. On its good side it involves our breathing together. Leaders whom others aspire to follow are often said to be charismatic. Charismatic comes from the Greek word xapioua, which means grace, favor, or a free gift [Liddell, 1972]. Combining these concepts leads one to consider gifts or favors that come from a nourishing deeper power that can lead us.
The experience of true spirituality: The common link with spirituality is religion. Indeed it is mostly used in that context. From the days of Biblical Abraham, to the writings of Saint Paul, up to the Protestant Reformation spirituality was closely connected with religion. The reformers wanted believers to concentrate on faith rather than on religious practices. This led, indirectly and unintentionally, to a separation of spirituality from religion. James Williams, in 1902, proposed separating religion from spirituality in order to study personal spirituality [Jamison, 2006]. The Latin etymology of the word spirituality is life or vigor. Spirituality is not an academic study. It is studied with the purpose of experiencing it. Without this spiritual way of life, we are said to be inexperienced {Spohn, 1997}. Spiritual development is discovering personal genuineness; finding meaning, purpose, and direction in one�s life; �continually transcending one�s current locus of centricity�; and �developing a greater connectedness to self and others through relationships and union with community� [Estanek, 2006, pg 273]. However, true spirituality transcends the physical, and even the psychological, or social facets of life [Sawatzky, et al., 2005]. For true spirituality is all about how to be in spirit by the Holy Spirit, so that we can report to others what God is doing; rather than reporting on what we are doing [Brother husbandman Philip].
The Writings of Tertullian: The woman [Eve], immediately on being met by him [Satan]- - I may say so without rashness - - was, through his very speech with her, breathed on by a spirit infected with impatience.
The Writings of Cyprian: Cyprian [200-258] was the Overseer of the church in Carthage, North Africa, during a period of fierce persecution. After many years of persecution during which the church existed underground he was captured and executed by the Romans. What about believes in Christ who do not do what Christ ordered them to do? How shall they attain the reward of faith, who do not keep the faith of the commandment? Answer: They will necessarily waver and wander, and get caught up by the breath of error that will be blown as the dust which the wind sirs up. Nor will they make any advance in their walk toward salvation, if they do not hold to the truth of the saving way.
