It’s late. Brian’s been sleeping for an hour. Candi is asleep next to me. I’m doing my “before I go to sleep” time with God. A prayer of examen. “Search me, O God, and know my heart. All my anxious thoughts I let go...” My prayer is interrupted as Brian comes through the door and walks to my bed. “What are you doing?” I ask. And he responds in a groggy voice, “I’m waiting for Scotty to get off the computer” (Scotty is a junior at Grand Valley State; he’s away at school). I smile and elbow Candi, whispering to her, “Brian’s walking and talking in his sleep.” I follow Brian downstairs to the computer, where he discovers that Scotty isn’t there. “Do you want to go back to bed?” I ask. Brian rubs his head and takes off back upstairs, “I’m confused”. Soon he plops back into bed. He’ll remember none of it in the morning.
As I lay in bed it dawns on me that I sometimes live my life like a sleep-walker; going through the motions of living without being conscious of my surroundings. Then I recall a scripture I recently read, and it hits me in the face like cold water, “Awake from your slumber”.
God, help me to be fully awake and aware, to live each moment to the fullest potential, to be fully present with You and the people around me.
Posted on
Sat, March 28, 2009
by Chris Spitters