By Father Casey
Five years ago, when the COVID pandemic was just beginning, the virus was not the only thing going viral. Rumors about the virus’ origin caught fire and spread like wildfire. One said it was unleashed by a secret cabal of billionaires to control the masses. Another said it was the result of the new 5G cellular technology that was somehow zapping us from all those towers. In those fear-filled days, conspiracy theories were everywhere.
In hindsight, it makes sense. Social scientists say that whenever people feel particularly powerless, conspiracies become an alternative way of making sense of things. It’s why Q-Anon has been compelling even among the educated; as outrageous as the group’s claims may be, they offer answers to the often inexplicable confusion of the world. I’m not a fan of conspiracies. I consider them distractions from the serious work of solving big problems. I trust scientists more than social media and experts more than influencers.
But I must admit to being a part of a conspiracy. A big one. One that reaches into every corner of the world, and goes all the way to the top. And I think you may be in on it, too.
Did you know that the word “conspire” means to breathe together? The root of the word means to be filled with the same breath, the same spirit, the same wind. Scientists tell us that the air we’re breathing right now is the same air that’s been in earth’s atmosphere for millions of years. Which means, some of the breath you are taking right now once passed through the lungs of dinosaurs and leaves of ancient forests. When we exhale, our breath goes out into the world, later to be shared by people we will never meet, in places we will never visit, in a world we can’t even begin to imagine right now. Our world is unified in a marvelous conspiracy of breath.
There’s one breath, though, one particular breath, that left the mouth of a man a long time ago and has been spreading out into the world ever since. People have been breathing that breath in their lungs and in their souls from that day to this, and it’s been binding them together into a movement, a body…a conspiracy.
It’s the breath that we hear about each year in Eastertide and celebrate at Pentecost. “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week,” the gospel of John tells us, “and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked…Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”…When he had said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus can feel, at times, “long ago” and “far away,” and the presence of God can seem abstract and ethereal. Which is why I love meditating on this passage and remembering that the breath I’m taking in right now carries some of the breath that once passed through the lips of the risen Christ. And it was not just any breath, but infused with the peace of God and the power that almost lit the heads of the disciples on fire on Pentecost. So when we breath even now, all these years later, we are conspiring together as the Body of Christ.
So you see, we’re part of a conspiracy. The biggest of all conspiracies, one that reaches every corner of the world. Because it didn’t take long for the divine conspiracy to get out of that room in Jerusalem. The Book of Acts describes how the breath of Jesus worked on those disciples almost immediately, inspiring them to keep his life and ministry going even after he left their physical presence. With his breath in them, and dancing on their heads and in their hearts like flame, the 11 became 120, and the 120 soon became 3,000.
“Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved (Acts 2:43-47).”
That’s what makes this conspiracy so different from the sort we can learn about on YouTube. Their stories are mostly about planting seeds of cynicism and distrust, separating people and driving us apart. But from the very first moment when Jesus breathed on his disciples, the divine conspiracy has been about binding people together to be a force for goodness and blessing in the world. When we take his breath into our souls and conspire with the Holy Spirit, we become part of God’s plan to bring heaven to earth.
So breathe in the breath of Jesus. And breathe out goodness and mercy.
Breath in the Holy Spirit. Breathe out compassion and peace.
Breathe in and breathe out, again and again, so the divine conspiracy of love can flow out from you into the world.
Fr. Casey +