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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Ashland council to consider water rate surcharge, Welcome Center agreement Ashland High's Michelle Zundel heading to Medford district Jackson County district election turnout under 17 percent Makeover brings new look to old clinic Coffee with the editor Education Ashland High's Michelle Zundel heading to Medford district John Muir students need help producing eighth-grade yearbook Ashland High School seeks volunteers for 2015-16 Heading to Harvard Rising from the ashes Environment Demonstrators hope to save tree Documentary 'When Giants Fall' tells tragic story of elephant poaching Mt. Ashland Ski Area proposes summer adventure center Long drought, big storm make for a dirty Bear Creek Jackson County declares drought disaster Business Makeover brings new look to old clinic Cars We Remember: 1955 and 1956 Plymouth memories Ashland's CD Or Not CD will carry on Sawyer Paddles sues manufacturer, alleging breach of contract Ashland seminars focus on employment law Politics and elections Ashland council to consider water rate surcharge, Welcome Center agreement Jackson County district election turnout under 17 percent Arthur I. Cyr: Camp David summit will not help Mideast stability City of Ashland to consider making recorder position appointive, not elective Ashland water bills could go up to fund watershed protection State News Oregon's snowpack at just 11 percent of average Lack of snow nixes ski portion of popular Central Oregon race Bill under debate in Oregon would limit livestock antibiotics Nation - World There's a $10 million precious stone hidden in plain sight at Grand Central Obituaries Death Notices Patricia Carole-Mae Perrin Alpha W. Crews Brian Erskine Fletcher Nita Day Shareable Check out top import and export for every U.S. state Patriots fan sets up GoFundMe page to help pay for team's Deflategate fine Sports Latest Stories AHS decathlete Thompson-Siporen overcomes knee surgery to shine at districts George Barnes: We need to help free Tom Brady O'Brien, Kim claim MWL doubles title Kelly McElroy: I hate this ‘game’ App Finder: Best cycling apps High school AHS decathlete Thompson-Siporen overcomes knee surgery to shine at districts O'Brien, Kim claim MWL doubles title Thompson-Siporen earns three MWL titles in first day of district meet Ashland heads to Eugene for MWL district meet Ayers pitches Eagles past Grizzlies Southern Oregon University O'Brien, Kim claim MWL doubles title Ashland heads to Eugene for MWL district meet Raiders Maguin, Parks, Sanders highlight first day of CCC track meet SOU lands two on all-CCC softball team See you in August Voices Latest Stories Letters to the Editor, May 19 Council Corner: Please help me with my list Granlund cartoon: Memorial Day and Uncle Sam George Barnes: We need to help free Tom Brady Lloyd Garver: The Apple Watch - good birth control? Editorial Other Views: Vaccine rate improves Our View: Focus on the basics Our View: Elected or appointed? Our View: Change is brewing Our View: Forest work is a bargain Letters Letters to the Editor, May 19 Letters to the Editor, May 14 (No heading) Letters to the editor: Tuesday, May 12 Letters to the Editor, May 8 Guest opinions Guest Opinion: Ambrose spins a conservative fantasy Guest Opinion: Restoring the Plaza's sense of place Guest Opinion: Making conservation a game Guest Opinion: A good day to act Columns Council Corner: Please help me with my list George Barnes: We need to help free Tom Brady Chris Honoré: The journey of the African elephant Herb Rothschild Jr.: An appalling budget Jeffrey Gillespie: Shame on the high seas Chris Honore Council Corner Editor's Notes Jeffrey Gillespie Herb Rothschild Revels Latest Stories Ashland Calendar, Thursday, May 14 4 Things To Do This Weekend Movie listings: May 15-21 Laurie Lewis, Tom Rozum at The Mountain House Steve Poltz, Grant-Lee Phillips at Old Ashland Armory Theater Ashland-originated plays to tour throughout country Ticket Availability Ticket availability Ticket Availability Departing Ashland Independent Film Festival programmer talks about what makes a good movie Music The Farr Side: Contest open for singer-songwriters The Farr Side: Mumford & Sons’ latest is full-on rock Interview: Country singer Suzy Bogguss enjoying life on the road The Farr Side: CMAs do it right, in many ways Interview: Offspring plays hits new and old on tour Visual Art Movies Documentary 'When Giants Fall' tells tragic story of elephant poaching Movie review: ‘Mad Max’ is a fresh, fantastic approach to a classic idea Your A-to-Z guide to the ‘Mad Max’ franchise Movie listings: May 15-21 'Wild Tales' is twisted, dark and lovely Food and Drink Taqueria Picaro takes over Tabu space Owner of Mix and Amuse to bring Flip burger joint to Ashland Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Dr. Elaine Heffner: Teaching values Food for Thought: Grapes deliver sweet healthy goodness Community Blog: God's sigh: the breath of peace Sid McKeen: A bumper crop of idle observations Cars We Remember: 1955 and 1956 Plymouth memories Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Mocha Musings Rogues: Tales from the Valley Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs Business Business Services NEWS NOW Council Corner: Please help me with my list ... Ashland council to consider water rate surcharge, Welcome Center agreement ... Ashland High's Michelle Zundel heading to Medford district ... Council Corner: Please help me with my list ... Ashland council to consider water rate surcharge, Welcome Center agreement ... Ashland High's Michelle Zundel heading to Medford district ... INNER PEACE Inner Peace: God's sigh: the breath of prayer Comment By Joyce Graham for the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joyce Graham for the Tidings Posted May. 16, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Joyce Graham for the Tidings Posted May. 16, 2015 at 12:01 AM Share your Inner Peace --> The Ashland Daily Tidings invites residents of the Rogue Valley to submit articles on all aspects of inner peace, including intuition, inner guidance, mind t... » Read more X Share your Inner Peace The Ashland Daily Tidings invites residents of the Rogue Valley to submit articles on all aspects of inner peace, including intuition, inner guidance, mind training, courage, fearlessness, forgiveness of self or others, honesty, gentleness, humor, open mindedness, friendship, tolerance, trust, faith, kindness, gratitude, overcoming and/or accepting life’s challenges of addictions, loss, grief, pain, awareness of presence and more. Send 600- to 700-word articles to Sally McKirgan, [email protected] . » Social News What prayer is this? This breath. This sigh. Not yours. God’s sigh to all creation. Well done, my child. Well done. It took me a lifetime to learn how to breathe. A reflex so basic, even that couldn’t be trusted. Small sips of air only to sustain. After mother’s milk, my sister and I were weaned on the legend of grandma and her near-death-by-peanut butter epiphany. According to folklore, after the girls were in bed and the husband on the next train (back then, children and men were always labeled as generic the’s); Betty, sideways in gloves and heels, silently dipped a silver spoon into a virgin jar of silky Jiff and immediately lost herself in consummate pleasure. Yet, Betty being Betty, a prototype for all emerging Bader women, immediacy trumped forethought, and every indulgence always pays a price. It was then that the family legend was born. Details sketchy, plot overworked, but the drama of the apron-clad matriarch hunched over blue has plagued generations with its dire warning, “Oh no! Not the Jiff!” A threat so ominous, we could only clutch our throats in horror and look the other way, knowing never again to ask for a peanut butter sandwich. I suspect like any good tale, the saga of Betty and her NDE (Near Death Experience) carries an important lesson. (Much more than don’t eat peanut butter directly out of a jar.) It’s about breath. All types of breathing. The short and snotty, the extended and ecstatic. Our first inhale, a pathway to life. The final exhale, our return trip Home. We hold our breath in amazement, in dread, in love. We hold it, or perhaps, breath holds us, upon first gaze of a newborn, upon the soft light of August, upon a whisper that stills the mind. Such divine, awe-inspiring moments when humanity merges with divinity, where not even a solitary breath can sustain such splendor. Yet when you can’t breathe — and we can’t, many times a day — life is held hostage. Paralyzed. Unable to advance, to release, to merge into the larger ether that sustains us all. Our only means of resistance, a single stubborn breath, unwilling to exhale, until no more. I find it telling now how Betty’s dip into a 5-inch drum of whipped peanut butter blocked her capacity to breathe. How we, too, cloak ourselves in comfort, spinning a cocoon of ease so tight that when we are called to emerge (as we always are), the threads of desire strangle all attempts to surface. Even the seal of indulgence cannot sustain emerging life, the eternal urge to manifest new ways of being in the world. Breath cannot be held, any more than a cloud, a child, a thought. Fleeting, ethereal, holy. Breath can only be cherished, then released, like all life-sustaining favors. Each moment made new by the power of a silent prayer, a single inhale, exhale, back into life. Again and again, we are called to breathe, to partake in God’s lovely sigh, to step back from our own masterpiece and lovingly say, "Well done, my child, well done." Joyce Graham is an instructor at Rogue Community College and author of "Eat Cake for Breakfast…And Other Rules to Break to Live Life More Vibrantly!" and "Joy Becoming," available on Amazon. Contact her at [email protected]. Send articles on all aspects of inner peace to Sally McKirgan at [email protected].   By Joyce Graham for the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joyce Graham for the Tidings Posted May. 16, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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