AND GOD BREATHED HIS BREATH

 

AND GOD BREATHED HIS BREATH

I have an unmatched awe for the magnitude and magnificence of God’s creations. There is nothing else in life that inspires me greater, gives me more admiration, more amazement, or causes me ceaseless  wonder. The beauty, the variety, the simplicity and the complexity of it all, is breathtaking. It’s beyond mortal comprehension. The never-ending discovery, the innate, self-contained renewal and replenishment, the splendor and delight that greets the senses anew continually is miraculous. Truly, everything testifies of an all-powerful Master Designer.

The pinnacle of God’s mortal creations were the bodies He organized for Adam and Eve. With portions from each of the other seven periods of creation, He incorporated the best of the best into the mortal tabernacles for His spirit children. Light and darkness – good and evil; sky and water – breath and fluid; earth with vegetation – food and resources; sun, moon and stars – contrasting levels of light, goodness and opposition; sea and land and air creatures – wonderment and replenishing resources; rest – appreciation, regeneration, and recuperation.

It is interesting to remember that all of creation (organization), the heavens and the earth and everything in it (including the bodies for His children), was done by His breath, by His Word. The term ‘Word’ is understood multiple ways – as God’s Son, His command, His sound, His decree, His breath. Everything that was (happened), is (happens), or will be (happening) – only occurs through and because of His word and His breath.

From the introduction of Adam and Eve into mortality, ALL of mankind’s subsequent creations have relied on, and used the patterns and designs of God’s seven periods of creation. We can find plagiarism of His original creation in every accomplishment of mankind – transportation, technology, construction, literature, science, medical, food, theater, education, music, sports, etc. Similarly, ALL of man’s creations commenced by  his breath – an idea spoken aloud, documented as a plan, and eventually culminating into creation. There are no original ‘creations,’ ‘discoveries,’ or ‘inventions’ of man that can’t trace their nucleus and patterns to God’s unmatched seven days of creation. As it is written, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.  Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us” (Eccl. 1:9-10, emphasis added). God holds all the patents for all of creation.

Adam and Eve came to life, into mortal existence because God breathed His breath into them, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). Moses confirmed that Adam was, “The first man of all men “(Mos. 1:34).

Adam was created (‘organized’ - see Abr. 3:22-24) in the image of God AND in the image of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ (Mos. 2:26-27). It’s not a stretch to further understand that by God’s word, by His breath, He breathed life into ALL of creation. By His breath He breathes His words, His counsel, His love, His spirit, (the light of Christ), the breath of hope, the breath of a bright and celestial future, the breath of healing, the breath of optimism to overcome, the breath of promise, the breath of life!

Adam and Eve not only were created in the Gods’ images, but they were also then brought to life by God breathing His breath into them. By receiving His breath, they received a physical, tangible part of God’s corporeal substance, that commenced precious life. It reminds me of the life-saving practice of giving someone CPR – an essential, lifesaving, physical part of a giver brings life to a victim. Similarly, a blood transfusion or an organ transplant, each give life physically from the giver to the recipient which revives and/or extends mortality.

Taking the thought forward another step, once life is given or revived, that life, in turn, can pass it on (pay it forward) to another life or lives. Just as we can trace bloodlines through generations, all of humanity can trace the breath we vitally need through our parents, grandparents, great grandparents, through modern history, through New Testament history, through all the generations of the Old Testament, to Adam and Eve, and ultimately to God’s very breath into Adam and Eve in Eden’s Garden. As such, we (all humankind) have not only God’s spiritual DNA inside us, but also traces of His physical breath inside us.

The idea of physical breathing is really interesting. Without food we can live up to three months. Without water, only about three days. Without love maybe longer, but not much living is really going on there. However, without air, we can only live five or six minutes. Without breathing our hearts will stop beating, our brains will stop thinking, and all of our vital organs will shut down. God breathed His breath into Adam and Eve, and subsequently they passed it onto all of humanity, each subsequent generation passing it on to the next. Each of us breath about 23K times daily (24 hours a day), 8.4M times a year, and over 682M times throughout an eighty-year lifespan.

In mortality, where God’s literal spiritual offspring, His children, who sustained His premortal Plan of Happiness and left their heavenly home, descend to a mortal world where they receive their physical bodies. Before earth life, we loved and adored our Heavenly Parents and desired to become more like Them. Mortality was an opportunity to experience a physical body (like Father and Mother had), learn to exercise agency on a whole new level, fail and succeed over and over, apply the atonement in intimate and redeeming ways, and practice becoming more like our Heavenly Parents.

The creation of the earth and mortal bodies for His children were essential to the Father’s Plan. In the premortal Council of the Gods, They said: “We will go down, for there is space there, and We will take of these materials, and We will make (organize) an earth whereon these (God’s children) may dwell; and We will prove (test) them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abr. 3:24–25, emphasis added).

God provides some glorious insight into the creation, “Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul. And it pleaseth God that He hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made” (D&C 59:18-20, emphasis added). Doesn’t it sound exactly like enthusiastic, animated, anticipating, expecting, and motivated Parents meticulously planning, arranging, and organizing the perfect life-classroom for their babies? We are also instructed, “… elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy” (D&C 93:29, 33, emphasis added). The union of God’s spirit children with the physical element of the mortal body He created, and brought to life by the breath of the Divine, inseparably connected for the express purpose to ‘receive a fullness of joy!’ Could there be any better Parents in the whole wide universe?

God gave us a part of Him! His breath brought our mortal, temporary bodies to life! Made possible, our continued eternal progression, our quest to emulate our Parents and become more like Them, and progressing forward and upward in our ultimate goal of preparing for godliness. A literal fulfilment of the Psalmist’s assertion, “… You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you” (Psa. 82:6 emphasis added), as well as the oft quoted Deepak Chopra. “Every person is a God in embryo. Its only desire is to be born.”

Some may ask why? Why did God do all of this? Maybe an applicable response can be found in a favorite writing from 2008, titled –

“Thy Works O Lord, How Was It Done?”

How my Lord?

The hummingbird so fragile, the cheetah so quick and agile –

The ocean so deep and blue, every sunrise so incredibly new –

The earth’s formation, just the right distance from the sun –

I wonder O Lord – How it was done?

 

How O Creator?

The smell of the newborn so sweet, soft little hands and feet –

Last night’s stars that twinkled, the elephant’s skin so wrinkled –

Mountains of monumental majesty, deserts of peaceful tranquility –

I marvel Dear Creator – How was it done?

 

 

How O Great Architect?

So sensitive and insightful the heart, the mind so complex and smart –

Flowers of every possible hue, the freshness of the morning dew –

Music that stirs every soul, diamonds formed from compressed coal –

In awe I ask O Father – How was it done?

 

How, Almighty One?

Giraffes, starfish and dolphins – caterpillar, ostrich and barnyard hens –

Holding hands – playing and laughter, with my five-year-old daughter –

In my arms she sleeps and dreams, of fairy tales and princess things –

Amazed, I wonder my King – Just how it was done?

 

How Master overall, both great and small?

Smiles that mend most ev’ry pain, prairies that flow with golden grain –

A kiss as bride and groom, the scent when orange blossoms bloom –

Planets and galaxies without end, the calm to know someone as friend –

I desire to understand Master – O how was it done?

 

O God, The Father of All,

Thy works so glorious and grand, without end thy creations planned –

Each unique with intrinsic beauty, all with exactness absolutely –

Every aspect, divinely deliberate every way, every moment, every day –

At last I’m beginning to see – it was done with love, so perfectly.

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Wm. Calvin Hughes | Lake Elsinore California | May 30, 2008

There is a debt we cannot hope to repay. Any feeble attempt to do so is as unworthy as a single raindrop in the oceans. What’s ‘due’ is an infinite measure of gratitude and adoration worthy of our continual worship to our Heavenly Parents - for Their love displayed in every detail of Their perfect Plan of Happiness, built on the perfect Atonement of Jesus Christ; for Their perfect seven periods of creation, the organization of the universe (stars, suns, planets, and earths) and everything therein; and for the perfect design of our mortal bodies; and most especially, for the perfect Holy Breath of the Father, which was the nucleus, the origin, the beginning of it all. Every whit!

Dedicated to Jeriann Hughes-Marks, my goodly and godly mother who taught me to love God, to trust and honor Him, to learn how to communicate and commune with Him, to seek after Him, to cherish and honor my relationship with Him, and to dedicate my life to Him. As I have tried to devote myself accordingly, I have heard His voice, felt His protection, been taught at His feet, leaned on His ample arm, experienced His grace and mercy, basked in His love, and found uncommon peace and happiness, in hopes of  someday “receiving the fulness of joy” He has planned for all of who love Him (D&C 93:33, emphasis added).

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Wm. Calvin Hughes | Lake Elsinore, CA | September 25, 2025