a l i v e & a w a k e

My Grandfather had Narcolepsy. There are many stories of how our 'Papa' (that's what we called our grandfather), fell asleep at different places or during many acivities. Some of them are quite humerous like when I was a child, papa and I would go out on the snow machine at night for a cold ride. One night in particular I remember we were out and the moon was very bright. He took me around a field zig zagging through the field and all of a sudden he started leaning to one side and we tipped over for no reason and there was snow in our faces and snow suits. I laughed and went to papa and kind of jumped on him as to say "hey you did that on purpose". I now look back realizing that he had fallen asleep driving and I woke him by jumping on him (this wasn't the only time).

My dad would also tell me that when he was a boy, papa would fall asleep at the wheel of their truck and they would head into the ditch. The bouncing truck and jolts would wake him and luckly they could back out of the ditch (although sometimes they had to get help). He would look to my dad and say, "Don't tell your mom." There were also many times he would fall asleep at the dinner table. We laugh now when we talk about those stories. Some of this story is serious and sad because my papa died on the lake fishing when he fell asleep on the water and drowned, we think it was related to the narcolepsy. I was about five when he died and so the encounters with him I can remember are vague and few. Narcolepsy is a disease around today and physically dibilitating in many ways to those who have it. Spiritually I think there is a narcolepsy that is hitting this world and ultimately is much more serious than the physical one.

What is my definition of spiritual narcolepsy? The sudden nodding off of our spiritual receptor at any given moment of the day and without us realizing it. Now there are people who are just plain not awake in the first place, but for those who are awakened this disease still overcomes us unaware. What does this look like? It's a moment that has spiritual value and truth and we appreciate it, but then something, someone, or our own distraction shuts down the reception. It was open and fed by the moment, it gets shut off, and we continue on our way without realizing it has been shut off.

What causes this Spiritual Narcolepsy? Distractions, busyness, and meanial tasks are at an all time high in North America. We hardly have two minutes in our day where it is quiet -a chance to think. TV, radio, comercials of sound wave and advertisements divert our energy from some of the most important things in life. For me I can be talking to my wife and look like I'm listening, but really be watching TV, a magazine rack or a cat that just ran by. I think this behaviour has been trained in us since we were young and now the only things that seem to hold our attention are the stimulous of todays world. Other contributing factors may be the fact we have not set goals for ourselves and found our purpose in life and so we welcome in distractions to help us forget the fact we really don't know ourselves or maybe like ourselves. This is a form of apathetic drifting that hollows out our souls. The world is rich and vibrant, just waiting to shed light--spiritual light, on our souls. How do we undo this problem?

Fortunately this spiritual narcolepsy has a cure unlike the physical narcolepsy (to my knowledge). It is unfornately for most people called -discipline. If you're like me, it is difficult to train a habit or break a habit. It's something like 21 days to form new habits as a natural part of our life. There's an odd statement that I use to form this habit -MAKE IT NATURAL. That becomes a semi mantra I use as I move closer to what I think God is wanting me to be. Being spiritually awake is one of those things that I find I need discipline in. I am no expert whenI talk about this problem (in fact it has been difficult enough for me to enter this segment because of all my distractions!) So what can we do to combat this?

Each will have their own way to deal with this but I believe it begins with celebrating life. If we have eyes to see the amazing and plentiful things that this life has to offer -that God is offering, than we can begin to undo the narcoleptic episodes that hit us. Celebration not only is good for the soul, but it is physically good for the body. I find if I take time to meditate on the amazing work of God in my life and around me my demeanor changes from numb to alive, drowsy to awake.

 Take a quiet moment, breath deeply and take inventory of all that is good, holy, praiseworthy, and begin to cure the spiritual drowsiness.