Strength

Strength for the day. Ever wake up groggy and wondering how you will be of use, of service today? It's a disconcerting awareness and makes me think of an old cartoon, the one where Fred Flintstones bloodshot eyes are held open by toothpicks, the only thing keeping him from falling asleep. Sleep is a mysterious blanket of vulnerable unawareness and as I write, I consider sleepiness as a similar state of being too dull to notice, being unaware. Perhaps it can be the opposite? Perhaps in a slightly subdued state, human striving and accomplishing can give way to a quieting of the spirit, an openness to hearing without searching for answers...as the earth prepares for the deep sleep of winter, rhythmically we too become drowsy, readying ourselves for the still. As I write, the wind becomes audible with the rustling of the drying leaves on the trees. I hear the seconds being clicked and counted on the wall clock and I wonder what the day will bring? I have a schedule with names in slots, appointments with real people who have their own scheduled lives and I realize how important it is that they are a part of my life, not my schedule. For this day, my prayer comes from Isaiah 40:31 But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint". God gives me strength, awareness, a keen desire to be available, especially when slumber would steal from His glory.