In that first moment after I am
persuaded that I am not going back to sleep I remind myself to stay in bed anyway. My habit is to not put a foot on the floor
with the intent of going to make the morning coffee until I first listen for God
and remind God and myself of what really matters today.
I have a prayer list. My
family of course, including our grand dogs.
The people of my church and, by name, those for whom I have promised to
pray about a specific need, both parishioners and friends and people I encountered
during the week. I pray for the work I
must do, the play I want to do, that God is glorified in both. My Tuesday ‘bed
prayer’ is a hymn I sing (in my mind), a lesson learned from my friend Peggy. I
have a Saturday prayer in respect of my Jewish cousins in the faith, one word
with arms raised: ‘Shalom’, asking God for complete peace of mind, body and
soul.
I pray throughout the day,
often just little ‘arrow prayers’, shot in God’s direction as I drive or walk
or am about to pick up the phone. But,
the most important prayer time is that moment before I will be distracted by
spilled coffee grounds, full garbage bags, distressing news, urgent emails and
my yogurt. I have learned to ‘force myself’ to pray, because it is so easy to ‘forget’
once the day begins.
Then, at night, in bed,
before I will turn to my side to let the melatonin take full effect, I review the
day with God. It might be as simple as, “It
was a good day, God. Thank you.” Then I listen and wait for the blessing of
sleep knowing that in the morning we will talk again, my friend and my God.
“A bed… is where you
face your nearness to or farness from God. Whether you are in pain or not, whether
you are an anxious person or not—even, I think, whether you are a religious
person or not—a bed is where you come face-to-face with what really matters
because it is too dark for most of your usual, shallowing distractions to
work.”
–Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning
to Walk in the Dark, p. 76
Source: inward/outward.org January 7, 2020
Shalom,
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