the Beginning and the End

by Carnes Mathis

In the beginning was my breath, the breath of the Word and the breath of Creation. Take refuge in my breath, for it is the breath of life. I am in you, for my breath is your breath. I am with you, for my Word is your word. Moments will pass, but I will remain the same.

My child, you exist in the now, straddling one moment to the next. Your heart beats in this current breath alone, but your mind is a traveler, trying to exist in every moment all at once.

You feel stuck because your body is a body of the now. You try to hold on to a past that you do not understand and a future that is beyond your comprehension. The present eludes you.

As the oscillations of your breath define your temporal existence, know that I transcend the breath of this world. Your body lives from breath to breath. My body lives from eternity to eternity.

I am a transcender, for I was, I AM, and I will be. I exist all at once, forever. Although you feel stuck in this moment, let the wholeness of my presence be your peace.

In the finite moment of your current breath, let your body find rest in my eternal body– the same body that gave life to Christ’s breath, your breath, and the breath of generations to come.

The breath of my body is the Word. Just as I am, so too the Word is. Find peace in this breath, my child. It is unlike the fleeting breaths of your now. Moments will pass, but the breath of my Word will remain the same.

As you live in the straddle of the present, know that I am your keeper and your holder. I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. When your breath gets heavy, know that I am with you. All of me is with you, for I am wholly God in this moment and in every moment for all of eternity.

My child, you see me in the now, thinking this is how I am, but it is merely a glimpse. I am in this now and all the nows that have yet to come. So as I hold you in this now, know that I will always be.

In the end was my breath, the breath of the Word and the breath of Creation. Take refuge in my breath, for it is the breath of life. I am in you, for my breath is your breath. Moments will pass, but I will remain the same, for I was, I AM, and I will be forevermore.

12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Revelation 22:12-13

So it always is when all of what makes up some one thing does not exist all at once (omnia simul): if it could all be sensed, it would be more enjoyable than it would be individually. But far better than these is he who made all things, our God. He does not pass away, because nothing succeeds him.

- Augustine