There’s advice that circulates that you shouldn’t go to bed or to sleep until you’ve resolved your conflicts. I think it’s mainly intended for spouses, but I’ve heard it used for a lot of things.
And I don’t agree with it.
Maybe it works for some people, but I always get myself in trouble when I deal with things before I’ve gone to sleep. The cool gray chill of dawn sheds a different perspective on things: my mind is clear, my body is rested, my stomach is empty. I try to begin my day with prayer, and this helps me when I’m dealing with a difficult situation.
In my morning puttering and wandering, I’m often in a rare mental state of calm and quiet. Amid the hustle and bustle of my life of late, the morning is the time when I can truly feel that the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit has a chance to be heard, and it is the time of the day when God doesn’t need a baseball bat, because he doesn’t have the same competition for my attention.
The sleep resets my mind, even if I wake with a headache and stuffed sinuses. The morning time, when I am in the nest of noiselessness, hearing only the pecking of my fingers at the keys and the sounds of waking-up from the birds and critters outside, is a time of renewal for me. I am renewed from my sleep, and the day is renewed from its night. The problems I faced only hours ago seem faded, and less important, and solvable. I allow myself to be closer to God, and this makes me ponder: why don’t I walk closely with him through my entire day? What is it about morning that I will focus heavenward, and how can I make more of my day be this way?
In the morning, before the day has begun its slow pull on my sanity and my patience, I feel new. I feel created for a reason, and somehow, I am closer to touching the reason.
How can I make myself more in touch with the divine? How can I make this the background music of my day, even the rough parts when I am frazzled and teary and lifting off like a tornado?
Lord, the answer lies in You, and in submitting myself to Thy will, not my will. Guide me today to keep the background music of gratitude and heavenly focus.
