"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, KJV).
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the literal (physical) senses of inspiration are:
the action of blowing on or into;
the action, or an act, of breathing in or inhaling; the drawing in of the breath into the lungs in respiration (Opp. to expiration);
a drawing in of air; the absorption of air in the 'respiration' of plants.
The figurative sense are:
a breathing in or infusion of some idea, purpose, etc. into the mind; the suggestion, awakening, or creation of some feeling or impulse, esp. of an exalted kind;
the suggestion or prompting(from some influential quarter) of the utterance or publication of particular views of information on some public matter;
something inspired or infused into the mind; an inspired utterance of product.
I think this relevant piece of the literal definition adds yet another layer to our understanding:
the action of inspiring; the fact or condition of being inspired; a breathing or infusion into the mind or soul. (Theol. etc.) A special immediate action or influence of the Spirit of God (or of some divinity or supernatural being) upon the human mind or soul; said esp. of that divine influence under which the books of Scripture are held to have been written.
(The last entry is the oldest dating back to 1303 AD.)
*There are similar concepts regarding breath, life energy, and inspiration in many other belief systems. A couple that cross my mind are prana in Hinduism and qi in Taoism.
Feel free to investigate. (Click on the title for the O.E.D)
2 comments:
I did not want to be the first to comment on my own entry. Evidently, I cannot resist. Since we have not yet digressed from the topic of inspiration, I thought this poem to be of relevance. This is the first poem from Lehman's book, _Daily Mirror_:
JANUARY 1 [In the beginning]
Some people confuse inspiration with lightning
not me I know it comes from the lungs and air
you breathe it in you breathe it out it circulates
it's the breath of my being the wind across the face
of the waters yes but it's also something that comes
at my comand like a turkey club sandwich
with a cup of split pea soup or like tones
from Benny Goodman's clarinet my clarinet
the language that never fails to respond
some people think you need to be pure of heart
not true it comes to the pure and impure alike
the patient and impatient the lovers the onanists
and the virgins you just need to be able to listen
and talk at the same time and you'll hear it like
the long-delayed revelation at the end of the novel
which turns out to be something simple a traumatic
moment that fascinated us more when it was only
a fragment an old song a strange noise a mistake
of hearing a phone that wouldn't stop ringing.
fascinating
Post a Comment