Wake up, sleepyhead!
A friend of mine, a devoted Catholic, has a five imperative recipe for an interesting and successful life: Wake up! Get up! Suit up! Show up! Shut up!
Wake up! I’m fortunate. I have some kind of internal alarm that wakes me in the morning. I tell it to myself when I am going to sleep. It’s something like,”You have to wake up tomorrow at 5:30 AM.” And, I do. I can’t remember the last time I have needed to set an alarm. You might have to put the alarm across the room because it’s hard for you to rise from sleep, but do it!
Get up! As I get older this is harder for me. I have to resist the temptation to stay a few more minutes, or more, in bed. Another friend of mine told me that each morning before he gets out of bed he remembers the scripture passage that gives his day a boost. Here it is: “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24) Those are he first words out of his mouth as he begins his day.
Suit up! Get out of your PJ.s and get going! I admit that some days I walk around in my pajamas until 10 o’clock or so because I don’t have to go anywhere. So, I find something that makes me put my shirt and pants on (shoes, too) and get in the car. I go to the pharmacy Stop at the bank. Mail that letter. Go out to a restaurant for breakfast. Drive the short way to the Illinois River where the tugboats are pushing grain-filled barges and the Canada Geese are herding their fledglings to shore as the dark clouds threaten a thunderstorm. Visit someone who would appreciate a visit..
Show up! What does Our Lord want you to do? Where does your obedience to Him lie today? Maybe, you need to go to work. Take care of your grandchildren. or rake the back yard. I need to show up at the nearby state park and do my morning walk and exercises. I should call a friend I haven’t heard from in a while.
Shut up! It’s not all about you! Listen! I know this sounds rude. But if you talk all the time, especially if three-quarters of your conversation is complaining or just rattling your ideas at people you meet, you won’t able to hear God’s invitations to you throughout the day. We used to call then “actual graces,” that is, impulses to actually do whatever the Lord is calling your to do at that time. So, we have to be quiet. So, we have to be quiet. So, we have to be quiet. Then, we will be ready to listen.
What a day!
(Source: Mike Lennon)