Calculations to support ‘Every Breath You Take’

The following explanations and calculations are intended to augment the blog post “Every Breath You Take“

The atoms and molecules which comprise the water sources, food stuffs and the air around us make up closed systems, most of which is generally free to move around. Over a period of 2 000 years, a large proportion of what was in a specific location back in Jesus day (i.e. in Jesus) has now dispersed relatively evenly across the more mobile components of each system.

Furthermore, Jesus’ body, like our own, continually renewed itself. Cells grew, died, fell to earth and decomposed. Water was drunk (perhaps as wine) got absorbed into the blood stream, and was passed on a daily basis. Air came into His lungs and was expelled back into the atmosphere with some of the atoms which had previously been in His body as a result of the food He ate. Therefore, all of our global ecological systems – the water cycle, the nitrogen cycle, and the carbon cycle – contain a small proportion of molecules and atoms which, for a while, were part of Jesus, and are now relatively evenly dispersed within each cycle.

So let us begin with Jesus’s contribution to the water cycle. Every day, His blood was filtered by His body and (to put it delicately) about a litre of His bloodstream was donated back to the earth and the atmosphere in various forms.  Over 33 years that amounts to approximately 12,000 litres, or 4×10²⁹ molecules. Over time this would have flowed into rivers or evaporated into clouds, and found its way back into the ocean currents which hold over 96% of the planet’s water – an amazing 1.4×10²¹ litres. While some may have gone into the ice-pack or into deep groundwater systems, this at circa 3% is relatively insignificant. So assuming the rest is distributed evenly, that means each litre contains approximately 3×10⁸ (300 million) molecules of what was Jesus’ blood. And these litres, are evaporated by the sun, form clouds, and rain down to form the juice in our grapes, the flow in our streams, the water in our taps, and the wine in our communion chalice – the smallest sip of which (c 1 ml) still contains approximately three hundred thousand molecules that 2000 years ago coursed through His veins, and thirty of which were most likely in the blood he shed from the cross.

So, what about His body and the bread we share at communion? Unfortunately, looked at through the carbon cycle this gets a little bit more difficult. There are actually two carbon cycles – and the uncertainties regarding the volumes involved make the calculation a bit beyond me (but maybe someone else can feel inspired to rise to the challenge).

What about Jesus and the Nitrogen cycle? Actually, by far the biggest reservoir of Nitrogen is Earth’s atmosphere. And so we can largely ignore the amount of Nitrogen in the rest of the cycle, and focus instead on how much of the Nitrogen in the atmosphere Jesus breathed.  Typically, one normal relaxed breath is approximately half a litre, of which 0.44 grams (about 10²² molecules) is Nitrogen. This Nitrogen is breathed in from the atmosphere, and breathed back out into the atmosphere, where it slowly mixes with the other 5 x 10²¹ litres of air all around us. There is a wonderful symmetry about this. Each adult breath (of approximately half a litre) averages 10²² molecules, and the volume of all of Earth’s atmosphere (at STP for the purists among you) is 10²² breaths (half-litres). Thus, when a breath has had enough time to disperse evenly on the winds and breezes across our atmosphere (2000 years should be long enough) then each breath we take is statistically likely to contain one molecule of every breath everyone else has taken. So when you next expend a breath in blessing, remember it probably contains one molecule from EACH AND EVERY prayer, blessing, and expression of love Jesus ever made.

There are further blessings available from following these chains of thought. That jam donut that is calling out to you from the plate contains well over fifty thousand molecules from Jesus’ body. And that relaxing cup of tea which takes you out of your hectic day and into His loving arms contains about ten thousand molecules from His blood.

And yes, the calculations above are not specific to Jesus. They are the same for all those who lived long enough ago for their molecules to be evenly distributed by the flow of time. For instance, the breath you expel in calling a blessing down on your friends and loved ones not only contains a molecule from each of Jesus’ payers, it also contains molecules used in the Nuremburg rallies, and in Caiphas’ condemnation.

However, with a spiritual perspective we can continue to ignore these. Light casts out darkness, and we give power only to that which we give attention. As I sat by the shores of Galilee, I was uplifted by my knowledge of its physical connection with Jesus without giving a moment of thought to the fact that Herod and Caiaphas must also have been there.  The molecules which connect you to Jesus are divine, not only because Jesus is divine, but also because you choose to think of them as divine. Physically they may be the same as all of the other molecules, but spiritually they are worlds apart.