This blog post is going to be short and straightforward, so you don't nod off from sudden yawn echoes. I am going to explain why Jesus makes me yawn.
Let's just talk about yawns. In all of the baffling questions out there in the world, yawning is one phenom which perpetually confuses scientists and because of this confusion ... there is NO real, proven reason for why we yawn. Truth! Some scientists allege low oxygen levels in the blood prompt a yawn. Other studies survived on the theory that yawning improves brain temperature, but those didn't hold up either.
And there is a theory by a pulmonologist at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center that yawning stretches the lungs and it's tissues so that our airways don't collapse. Makes sense, right? Gah! That hasn’t proved either! Why NOT? Scientists and doctors know OH SO MUCH about the human body and have jumped leaps and bounds in science and medicine. Why isn't yawning a simple thing??????? I don't get it!!!!! Tell me why!!! WHYYYYYYY?????
I'm okay. Really. It's not that big of a deal not to know why we yawn. I only yell out of jest. I stretch my mouth at our cats, and they often return it (maybe they think it's a threat haha). You yawn when you are tired; you yawn when we are bored, you yawn in response to seeing another person do it, and often yawn when you merely see PHOTOS of yawners or even just TALKING about yawning. You've yawned two or three times while reading this post since the title, haven't you?
The thing is, we don't understand yawns at all. No, we don't. However, we need them, don't we? What I am thinking is this ... the Almighty is sort of like your yawns. Of COURSE, I am not saying He bores you ... I am merely saying this: You don't always understand Him, but you know you need Him. He is the source of your humanity and complements your well-being. And you have to admit that there are times He has jarred you out of spiritual slumber.
Listen to what Job's friend Elihu said to Job...
So please, Job, hear me out,
honor me by listening to me.
What I’m about to say
has been carefully thought out.
I have no ulterior motives in this;
I’m speaking honestly from my heart.
The Spirit of God made me what I am,
the breath of God Almighty gave me life!
Job 33:1-4
Simple, right? And I am also speaking honestly, from the heart. The Spirit of Christ is the instrument to support our physical life, and it is this breath that He gives us we praise to the God who gave us that respiration. Now say THAT three times fast! ;-)
My theory is (and pardon me but this is entirely my pondering so you indeed don't have to believe it): People appear to yawn out of some empathy for others AND to release negative energy like exhaustion or boredom. So ... maybe a spiritual yawn is a necessary thing. When I yawn from now on, I am choosing to remind myself that I am always in need of spiritual awakening and to remember that it was the breath of the Almighty that gave me my life in the first place.
There it is. It isn't profound theology or complicated at all. But it is something worthy of remembrance. So corresponding to that ... maybe ... very possibly...I can consider that it is Jesus, jarring me out of spiritual repose, who is making me yawn, reminding me to not slumber spiritually. And I'm okay with that. You?
You just yawned again, didn't you? I know I did. Praise God!
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