Drove to the Soo yesterday and was listening to The Blend on Sirius XM Radio. Katy Perry’s song “Wide Awake” popped up and caught my attention. The lyrics portray something major in her life that goes terribly sour. Yet in the midst of that crumbling reality, she wakes up. That is, her mind and senses become acute and it is a good thing.

I began to think about “waking up” as the key component to any spiritual journey. Having the courage to end our dreamy, fictional perceptions and exchange them for what is Truly Real is no small feat.

Waking up, for me as a follower of Jesus, means I am willing to surrender all my ideas about life that He might teach me the mystery of Truth and Love and how to apply that in my day to day circumstances. It means letting myself be surprised everyday by God’s invitation to go deeper into the abundance He has for me (and others). It means waking up each day to a new hope and new horizons.

Thank you Katy for providing a launching pad for some cool reflections. God bless you.

The other day I was doing some late fall cleaning of the garden and came across a monarch chrysallis. It was attached to one of the green plastic tapes that I’d used to support the tomato plants. I just stared at it for a moment. The butterfly inside looked like it was just about ready to burst out but had died. Maybe it was caught by one of our recent hard freezes. Maybe something else. But it had, seemingly, barely missed its window of opportunity. I felt sad for the little guy (or gal).

It got me thinking on how important timing can be in our lives. Sometimes it’s life or death. Sometimes the timing of little events can change the trajectory of the rest of our lives. The Apostle Paul invites us to “walk in the Spirit”. This not only has to do with aligning ourselves to the direction of God’s movement but also to the cadence, or timing, of the Spirit. Doing the right thing at the wrong time can have disastrous consequences!
So I am still a little sad for little unborn butterfly but thankful that the Lord ultimately takes care of His “little ones” and that He reminded me to be a bit more conscious of His Timing in my life.  Maybe we could translate Paul’s phrase to “move with the Spirit”.  For me, it’s like God as our dance partner in life and learning to follow His lead.  Takes practice!