Sunday, April 6
The angel who talked with me came again, and wakened me, as one is wakened from sleep.
—Zechariah 4:1
The heralds of heaven are not interested merely in our personal liveliness or our individual happiness, however. Their interest is in doing the bidding of the Holy One. Their role is to proclaim the glory of God and that glory is often witnessed and declared through the sinews and muscles of humankind.
But, when we are asleep, right in the midst of the turning of the world, we have little chance of having anything to witness or declare. We might feel we really have no interest in such a task anyway. But sit on a silent ebony night, under the flickering of diamonds in the sky, feeling the wet grass under your toes, experiencing the great embrace of the earth, and just see if you don't have a desire to share that wonder with others.
When the heralds wake you, as one who is asleep, wipe the sand from your eyes, and look about your world as if for the first time. Like Neo in The Matrix, your eyes will probably hurt because, you realize, you have never opened them before. But you will witness God's glory, and you will want to declare it.
O God, when the herald of heaven beckons me out of sleep, show me the wonders I have been too tired to see.
