YHWH – the breath of life

A couple days ago I was told about a rabbi that shared regarding the name of God, YHWH, at a recent march in Washington D.C. I don’t know if this is the same rabbi, but I have located an article on the Internet by Rabbi Arthur Waskow which contains similar content. (http://www.shalomctr.org/node/576) Take time to really think about God being the breath of life.

“You might pause to try this yourself: try to say “YHWH” with no vowels. Not “Yahweh” or “Yahovah,” but with no vowels at all.

Over the years I have invited thousands of people at synagogues, retreat centers, Hillels, and conferences to explore what happens if they try to do this, and almost everyone who does this, experiences either a breath or the wind. The real Name is BEYOND pronunciation, unless you consider breathing pronunciation.”

“2) The notion of YHWH as “the Breath of Life” accords with a deep sense of God as intimate and transcendent at once. If we have no breath in us, we die. If there is no breath beyond us, we die.

3) Moreover, it makes profound sense for at least one of the real Names of the real God to be not a Hebrew word, nor a word in Egyptian, or Latin, or Greek, or Arabic, or Sanskrit, or English – not in any single language but in all of them, or in some form of expression that both underlies and transcends language: just breathing, which all humans of all peoples do.

4) Still more, Breathing encompasses not only all humans but all life-forms. What the trees breathe out is what we breathe in; what we breathe out is what the trees breathe in. So YHWH as a breathing sound evokes “kol ha’neshama,” all breathing beings, and “nefesh chaya,” all those in which is the life-breath.

It includes not only specific life-forms but the interwoven life-process, in which all earth – even aspects that we often think of as not alive, like rocks and the ozone layer – take part in a planetary breathing.”

The Average Volunteer

Approximately 65.4 million people volunteered in the United States between September 2004 and September 2005 according to the most recent volunteer survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data from the survey indicates that the “average” volunteer is “a white woman, between the ages of 35 to 54 years old, married who works part-time, and volunteers for a religious or an educational or youth service organization.” How many of your volunteers are average? (Source: United Way of Snohomish County http://www.uwsc.org/VolCtrNewsJan06.pdf)

Well, it is nice to  know I am not average! I’m not a person who is usually that interested in statistics, but I found these interesting, probably because of my interest in finding some place to serve, give, and share of myself. It wasn’t just the most average volunteer that I found interesting, but also the least “average” which is a Hispanic man in his late teens or early twenties who has never been married, has no children, has little education and is unemployed or not in the labor force.

Volunteers gave a median average of 52 hours a year (1 hour per week). Men volunteered a few more hours a year than women. Most volunteers serve in only one or two organizations, although those with higher education are more likely to volunteer for multiple organizations. Religious organizations are the most common places to volunteer, followed by educational/youth oriented organizations. About 43 percent of volunteers serve because they are asked to, and around 40 percent serve based on their own initiative.

Are you part of the 65.4 million people? Are you doing something to give of yourself to others? Are you waiting for someone to ask you, or is there someplace you could share even an hour a week?