By Yuri Yamamoto

I breathe to cry:
              From day one, crying has been the sign of my life.

I breathe to laugh:
              What a joy to burst into laughter with family and friends.

I breathe to scream:
              My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

I breathe to sing:
              Our harmony reaches heaven.

I breathe to look in the depth of my despair:
              When a molester touched me, I became a walking dead.

I breathe to feel:
              Numbness protected me outside but killed me from inside.

I breathe to refresh my soul:
              My body becomes filled with God’s pure, cleansing breath.

I breathe to see clearly:
Confronting evil within and without is a hard work.

I breathe to receive strength and courage:
So I can speak the unspeakable truths.

I breathe and stand up against oppression.

I breathe and hold sorrows with compassion.

I breathe and forgive myself.

I breathe and forgive you.

I breathe and love myself.

I breathe and love you.

I breathe because of my ancestors:

They gave me their joys, dreams, pains, and nightmares.
              I love them, I forgive them, and I let them go.

I breathe because I am alive.

I breathe until I take my last breath.

Yuri Yamamoto (they/she) is a board-certified chaplain ordained and endorsed by the Federation of Christian Ministries. After coming from Japan to the U.S., Yuri was a scientist (molecular biology/plant biology) and a church musician in a Unitarian Universalist congregation. Their theological education is from Shaw University Divinity School, and after two CPE residencies, Yuri is serving as a contract chaplain in local hospitals while discerning their future. Yuri is a minister of Liberation Station, Home of Underground Church, a start-up ministry. Yuri and their husband have six kids, four kids-in-law, four grand kids, and one dog.