The Breath of Life

It seems very ironic that the two major crisis facing our country right now both relate to the ability to breathe. One of the major symptoms of COVID-19 is how it affects our lungs and the ability to breathe. I have had reallly bad coughs when I have had the flu in the past and I know how scary it is to feel like you can not breathe . And with the virus those who survive may be scarred for life and continue to have shortness of breath which is very debilitating.

And then there is the breath issue with George Floyd, whose picture is shown above as part of a memorial set up for him in Minneapolis. Of course he is the African American young man who cried out "I can not breathe" in vain as a plea for help with the police officer who had him in a restraining position. He later died on the way to the hospital. Why this is even allowed in the first place is beyond me.

We seem to take the simple act of breathing for granted. Every breath is sacred. When I thought about these two events I reflected on my oldest granddaughter whose name is Oniya, which in Lakota, means the breath of life. We need to do everything we can to help people breathe and to do so effortlessly. We should all have this right. It is critical that we find a therapeutic cure for the virus but in the meantime we know what we need to do to stay as safe as possible. In terms of what happened to George Floyd and happens everyday to our people as well we have to have a systemic change of the racist system we are all part of. This will not happen overnight but the change must begin with each of us doing our part to make a difference.