Sleep is sometimes a tricky business. I’m talking about the kind of sleep where your (my) mind is disengaged, your (my) body stilled, your (my) soul quieted. Learning how to sleep in a different place, in a different bed adds to the trickiness. The familiar soundtrack of nighttime sounds replaced by new sounds. At first, these new sounds are disconcerting. “Is that really a chorus of laughing hyenas outside my door? Hyenas aren’t native to ANY part of Tennessee.” Turns out, the metal stairway that is just outside our apartment vibrates and it sounds something like hyenas. Like I said, sleep is sometimes tricky.
Thankfully, my sleepless nights are sporadic, few and far between. On a more recent fitful night, my mind wandered through various streams of thought. “Will those shoes I bought for Sister’s wedding be good for the reception? I need to put ‘dill’ and ‘paprika’ on the shopping list. Wonder if there are any cotton fields around here? I will miss seeing the cotton fields bloom. A short day at the clinic would be AWESOME! I’d love to have a good, fudgy brownie...with homemade frosting.” I noticed that my breathing was as rhythmless as my thoughts. So, instead of thinking about the grocery list or the fact that I ALWAYS seem to want that fudgy brownie, I focused on my breathing. How I was breathing...what I was breathing in and what I was breathing out. And then my thought pattern shifted away from physical breathing to emotional/spiritual breathing. I’m sure someone has said this before me...there is scriptural basis for this...so, indeed, someone has said this before me, but this was where my thoughts wandered.
If I breathe in peace, I can breathe out anxiety. If I breathe in joy, I can breathe out sorrow. If I breathe in hope, clarity, and kindness, I can breathe out despair, confusion and animosity. If I breathe in concern, generosity, and discernment, I can breathe out apathy, greed, and ignorance. If I take in patience, grace, and compassion, I can release aggravation, legalism, and criticism. If I take in truth, I can release lies. If I take in confidence, I can release insecurity. When I embrace gratitude, I let go of entitlement. When I embrace satisfaction, I let go of discontentment. When I embrace holiness, I let go of worldliness. When I embrace strength, I let go of weariness. If I focus on sincerity, excellence, and courage, dishonesty, mediocrity, and fear fade away. If I focus on meekness, arrogance fades away. Dwelling on that which is pure, lovely, and noble leaves little room for what is counterfeit, ugly, and disgraceful. Dwelling on what is righteous and eternal, leaves little room for what is wicked and temporal.
If I am full of love, there is no place for loathing.
If I am full of Him, there is no room for me.
Thankfully, my sleepless nights are sporadic, few and far between. On a more recent fitful night, my mind wandered through various streams of thought. “Will those shoes I bought for Sister’s wedding be good for the reception? I need to put ‘dill’ and ‘paprika’ on the shopping list. Wonder if there are any cotton fields around here? I will miss seeing the cotton fields bloom. A short day at the clinic would be AWESOME! I’d love to have a good, fudgy brownie...with homemade frosting.” I noticed that my breathing was as rhythmless as my thoughts. So, instead of thinking about the grocery list or the fact that I ALWAYS seem to want that fudgy brownie, I focused on my breathing. How I was breathing...what I was breathing in and what I was breathing out. And then my thought pattern shifted away from physical breathing to emotional/spiritual breathing. I’m sure someone has said this before me...there is scriptural basis for this...so, indeed, someone has said this before me, but this was where my thoughts wandered.
If I breathe in peace, I can breathe out anxiety. If I breathe in joy, I can breathe out sorrow. If I breathe in hope, clarity, and kindness, I can breathe out despair, confusion and animosity. If I breathe in concern, generosity, and discernment, I can breathe out apathy, greed, and ignorance. If I take in patience, grace, and compassion, I can release aggravation, legalism, and criticism. If I take in truth, I can release lies. If I take in confidence, I can release insecurity. When I embrace gratitude, I let go of entitlement. When I embrace satisfaction, I let go of discontentment. When I embrace holiness, I let go of worldliness. When I embrace strength, I let go of weariness. If I focus on sincerity, excellence, and courage, dishonesty, mediocrity, and fear fade away. If I focus on meekness, arrogance fades away. Dwelling on that which is pure, lovely, and noble leaves little room for what is counterfeit, ugly, and disgraceful. Dwelling on what is righteous and eternal, leaves little room for what is wicked and temporal.
If I am full of love, there is no place for loathing.
If I am full of Him, there is no room for me.
Comments
Post a Comment