An odd feeling when an illness affects your breathing. Meditation practice teaches us to focus upon our breath because it is so effortless and flows without thinking. When thinking begins to touch our breathing, it seems as if the whole world spins out of control. And perhaps, I thought, that is the whisper. When our thinking, judgment, defining, or effort gets involved, what should be effortless and natural simply gums up…smile. Then a most wonderful gift from the morning’s readings. “Every day love corners me somewhere and surrounds me with peace without having to look very far or very hard or do anything special” ~ Thomas Merton. Love and breathing. Yep, I guess that about sums it up.