Awake
Do you ever wake up feeling totally refreshed?
My heart is firmly fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and make melody. Wake up, my spirit; awake, lute and harp; I myself will waken the dawn. - Psalm 108:1-2
Some nights, I sleep straight through, without interruption, and I awaken feeling like I truly slept well. Not so last night.
But even though I was awake several times, I can appreciate the message in today's psalm. If my spirit is awake within me, I can approach the day refreshed, regardless of the kind of sleep I had last night.
What is it that awakens the Spirit?
If you are a Star Wars fan, you may feel more comfortable calling the Spirit within The Force, and you would think that it takes work to learn to unleash its power.
But I believe the Holy Spirit's power is different.
While it is true that it can give you strength to do battle against evil, it is also a shield, a protection against the forces that want to harm or persuade us to do what we don't want to do.
Each day, when I awaken, I read the scripture readings for the day and in doing so, I put myself in a more receptive mindset, one that can be open to the Spirit, so we can attack the day together.
I don't always know that the Spirit is with me, but I believe it to be so, and that helps me deal with the slings and arrows thrown my way.
Without the help of the Spirit, emotions can take over and cause us to say and do things we might regret later. The Spirit helps me stay calm in the midst of chaos, and to channel its power in ways to help calm the situation.
If we decide to take a moment to call upon the Spirit before reacting, just imagine how much better the world would be.
One place where the Spirit seems to be lacking in on social media. For some reason, we all tend to unleash our worst selves there, without calling upon the Spirit to guide us.
That's too bad, because the medium could be so powerful in helping us come to an understanding of each other's views.
Maybe if we take a moment to let the Spirit in before responding to that latest rant, we will see something different emerge.
We can try.
More to come...