My Daily Bread, The Very Air I Breathe

Hey, Y'all,

Literally just rolled into town from San Luis Obispo (yes, Art, as advertised: it's indeed a little slice o' heaven; thanks for a great weekend, mi he'mano, I had a blast--and thanks of course Laaana and Stella-bella and LeLe, and Cushita and Alahn and Not-So-Little-Anymore-Olivia--it was great seeing you guys as well)(and hopefully I'll catch you next time, John and Jerin). BTW, crazy scenic train ride--easily 3/4 of it is coastline and vineyards/agriculture--so yeah, how great was my day (and my weekend? :-)

So among other things I was listening to on the way back--it was after all an 8-hour train ride (BTW, what exactly did we do before iPods?!? I must be getting old 'cause I distinctly remember taking cassettes on long trips)(yes, kids, there was something before that now-obsolete technology--CDs)(don't even get me started on 8-tracks and records :-)

ANYWAY, among other things, I heard this song, and the lyrics--which I've always appreciated--really struck me this time, so I listened to it again, carefully, and again, and yet again...must've been the air in SLO as well as the good company and good conversations (as well as the good stuff I'm reading on prayer--books by Yancey and Cymbala--RSTs will follow of course :-)

So for some reason it really struck me that prayer, this mystical, inexplicable thing I attempt with varying degrees of success, this odd communion--actual communication?--with the incomprehensibly-more-than-me God, is not only possible, but it is somehow critical to my growth as a person and as a man who is striving to live a better life. The words go something like this...

This is the air I breathe--
Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread--
Your very word, spoken to me

And I...I'm desperate for you
and I'm lost without you

This is the air I breathe
This is my daily bread

I'm desperate for you
I'm lost without you

You are my daily bread
You are the air I breathe...

My daily bread, the very air I breathe...would that it were actually so, Lord.

You've been prayed for today...