Monday, October 01, 2012

Encounters With God

I woke up about 3:00 AM this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. I think I finally dozed off about 15 minutes before the alarm clock went off at 6:00 AM. Back in my monastery days we used to get up at 3:00 AM intentionally and then I also did it on a regular basis when my children were babies. However, it is not something I choose to do now. When it happens I usually lay in bed and think. Often I think about all the people in my life and especially about those who are going through any difficulty. More often than not I will say a prayer for them. Sometimes I think God wakes me up in the middle of the night just to get my attention. In the busyness of daytime that doesn’t always happen despite my efforts to be awake and aware of the spiritual vibes going on around me. In the monastery these pre-dawn hours are the best time of day. When I go on a retreat at the monastery I revert to my novice monk days and I live the monastic schedule. Maybe when I am a really old man, and my working days are behind me, I will once again get up in the night when God wakes me up. Now I too often just look at the clock and mentally calculate how much sleep I am missing. Today I will most likely be in a daze as soon as my morning caffeine begins to wear off. This evening when my work day is over I will certainly need a nap. Hopefully the nap will not only catch me up with the sleep I lost last night, it will prepare me for another possible encounter with God in the middle of tonight.






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