Like many who had learned the story behind Juneteenth as children, gospel musician Jonathan McReynolds was confused. “I had a very basic understanding and assumed at that point that someone could get on their cell phone and just call and tell everybody,” he tells Apple Music. “I remember my first reaction was ‘Why did it take so long?’” While that sort of indignation at the news of the Emancipation Proclamation not reaching some slaves until well over two years after its instatement is hardly uncommon, the singer is likely well familiar with the biblical directive of “lean not unto thine own understanding.” McReynolds, working in collaboration with faith-driven praise and worship collective Maverick City, was able to distill some of his feelings about the holiday on “Breathe,” the group's contribution to Apple Music’s Juneteenth-inspired Freedom Songs, a collection of covers and originals. “Breathe” is a song the singer hopes reminds fans to be grateful in each moment. “Chandler [Moore] was praying in the session and talking about how the events that have taken place in America have a lot of us—especially Black men—waiting for the next shoe to drop,” McReynolds says. “As we began writing our way through it, we just realized this connection to all of the breaths that have been snuffed out over the past years because of racism and discrimination. So the first idea was centered around us bracing ourselves for the next issue, the next trending topic, the next killing, the next trial, and how necessary it is for us as believers—and just people in general—to make sure that we don’t miss out on living, praising, and believing because of worry.”