Just for fun, the editor of the bulletin for church added an h in the middle of my name. Mine, and all the other musicians in the worship team. My surname is Odhner which already has an extraneous h that people move around or omit with whimsy. 

H is a persuasive letter in that sometimes it affects another consonant without making any noise of its own. Ch. Th. Ph. Gh. It's enough to give three lines an identity crisis. 

The story from the Bible that morning was when Abram and Sarai were told they would have a son. The couple were long past such yearnings, she being ninety and he a full century. Yet God assured them that she would conceive in her old age, and that their child would be called Isaac.

Isaac. Another word for laughter. And laugh they did at the unexpected turn of events in the twilight of their lives.  

The letter H requires breath, a calming exhale which in turn evokes an inward gulp of air. In Hebrew it is the letter that appears twice in God's own name. Two breaths.

As a sign post of the change Abram and Sarai were experiencing, they were granted Hs as well. Abraham and Sarah, the patriarch and matriarch of the Isrealitish nation. 

When Benjamin starts to spiral out of control, one of the strings that brings him back to center is breath. Deep ones. 

"Blow out the candles," we say. 

And astonishingly, his anxiety often recedes, like the flame on the birthday cake. Breathe out the tension, inhale serenity. 

Another way to help him dodge a flash of fear is to make him laugh. It only takes four words. 

"Wanna do chicken chores?"