Not by Chance, but by Breath and Design
Of late, things have been landing not as coincidence, but as divine purpose.
Recently, my daughter began sharing her newfound interest in science, God, and the design of the body. Of course, as her mum, I felt that familiar stirring of excitement , not because she was interested in my work, but because she was awakening to her own curiosity.
Something was being sparked within her, and that matters deeply to me.
Around the same time, a video appeared in my Facebook feed. It spoke about a scientist Lynn Margulis whose work in 1966 went largely unrecognised until the 1980s the theory of endosymbiosis. I almost scrolled past, but something in me paused. Not intellectually at first but bodily.
There was a quiet stirring within, almost like a whisper:
Look at this through the lens of “He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”
That moment left me in awe. Not because I suddenly understood the science in a technical sense, but because once again I was reminded: this is not by chance , this is by design, and with purpose.
Learning to Hear with New Ears
I am not a scientist.
Yet since stepping into the work of somatics and embodied processing, my relationship with science has changed. It’s as though before, I didn’t quite have the ears to hear or the capacity to understand. And now, I do.
The body has a way of recognising truth before the mind can explain it.
Endosymbiosis: Life Through Relationship
Endosymbiosis is the scientific theory that certain parts of our cells most notably mitochondria (and chloroplasts in plants) originated as independent organisms that entered into a cooperative relationship with other cells. Over time, they became inseparable.
It evolved through relationship, cooperation, and mutual indwelling.
When I heard this, something deep within me resonated.
“In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being”
At Soulroots, my why, my anchor has always been this passage:
“In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)
Perhaps this is why that video invited my attention so strongly, because this verse is almost a theological description of endosymbiosis:
Life sustained from within
Not imposed from without
God not as a distant mechanic, but as the sustaining presence
At Soulroots, one of our deepest intentions is to help women experience their faith inwardly, to realise that Christ does not hover above us demanding transformation, but dwells within us, inviting it.
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)
Not Christ over you but within you, transformation happens through indwelling presence.
Method and Meaning
Endosymbiosis may describe the method.
Scripture reveals the intention.
I’ve written before about the “powerhouse within” about energy, ATP, and the intelligence of our cells. This is where it becomes especially beautiful.
Mitochondria:
Use oxygen to create energy (ATP)
Are literally the powerhouses of the cell
Enable movement, repair, growth, and choice
In embodied processing, we support people to understand the body’s language and terrain to realise that we are whole, integrated beings, internally and externally.
Many Parts, One Body, even at the Cellular Level
Paul’s metaphor speaks of:
Different parts
Different roles
One unified purpose
Endosymbiosis mirrors this perfectly:
Parts that once had their own story
Now belonging to a greater whole
Serving life rather than self-preservation
This is not a threat to faith, it is a deepening of it.
“Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being (nephesh chayyah).” (Genesis 2:7)
There is so much here.
Dust (ʿāphār) — material creation
Breath (neshamah / ruach) — divine life-force
Result — not just a functioning body, but a living soul
The body already existed before the breath, life began when divine breath animated matter.
Breath is not just air.
Breath is life capacity.
It is vitality, awareness, responsiveness the ability to receive and respond.
Light, Plants, Breath, and Man
Chloroplasts do one essential thing, they turn light into stored energy.
Sunlight → photosynthesis
CO₂ + water → glucose + oxygen
Everything that breathes:
Depends on oxygen
Depends on stored energy
Depends, ultimately, on plants
Chloroplasts are the interface between light and life the translators of light into matter.
Genesis tells us:
“Let there be light.”
Before animals.
Before man.
Man is formed from:
Dust — minerals and elements
Plant-derived energy — food, glucose, oxygen
Breath — oxygen and divine animation
Chloroplasts enable oxygen.
Oxygen enables mitochondria.
Mitochondria enable movement, work, service, and choice.
If God formed man through light, plants, breath, and matter that does not diminish divine action.
It reveals a God who invites creation to participate in His will.
“Let the earth bring forth…” (Genesis 1)
The earth is not passive.
It obeys.
In Colossians 1:16-17
“All things were created through Him and for Him… and in Him all things hold together.”
Plants serve animals
Animals serve ecosystems
Breath circulates through all living things
Carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen weave life together
Creation functions as a single, obedient body, nothing exists for itself alone.
Breath Behind the Science
God spoke light into existence.
Creation learned how to receive and store that light.
Plants became vessels of energy and breath.
God formed man from the world He had prepared.
Then God breathed and man became a living, responsive being.
Science describes the obedience of creation.
Scripture reveals the breath behind it.
And perhaps this is what we are being invited back into to breathe, to listen, to remember that life has always been sustained from within.
What I’m coming back to again and again is this: we were not made to exist in fragments, disconnected from purpose or presence. We were made to be breathed into to receive life from within and to live from that life. There is an invitation here: not to strive, not to perform, not to figure everything out intellectually but to come home into our bodies, our breath, and the grace that sustains us.
If this reflection has stirred something in you a remembering, a release, or simply a curiosity, I want you to know you’re not alone. You are part of a body, a story, a creation that is loved, held, and intricately woven together. And there is space here to explore what that looks like in your daily life, your faith, and your embodied experience.
Join our community where we walk toward grace and presence, where we learn to listen to our bodies and our breath, and where we connect with others on the journey of healing and wholeness.
If this reflection resonated with you, you might also find encouragement in my blog post:
ATP & Spirit — The Powerhouse Within: A Reflection on Divine Energy in Our Cells
Thank you for being here and may you continue to be breathed into deeply, gently, and with grace.
