Knock Knock

Almost every morning, before any significant thought or mental clarity sets in, it starts. The taps on the door of the mind. First they seem to start as faint as a far away knock, but then, as a few minutes pass, they grow louder and more unrelenting.

“Hello . . .knock, knock . . . this is not a joke . . . Hello? Tap . . . tap . . . tap.” Jiggling on the door handle into my head.


Sometimes I can turn it off, roll over and go back to sleep, the emergency of the urgent postponed for a while. More times than not, the urgency is of my own making. More times than not, in the light of all things, the urgent is really not so.

All these years, I’ve struggled with the AM hours. Sometimes justifying the lethargy with the “musician” excuse. It’s worked for a long, long time! But now days, I have as close to a routine as I’ve ever had when I’m not traveling and I like it. Still, if I take too much time with breakfast or coffee or take in a little too much SportsCenter during the aforementioned, it’s hard to draw a line around my mind and keep the knocking from becoming so loud that nothing else can be heard.

So, today I opened a well-used devotional book I’ve been in all this year and read a selection from E. Stanley Jones. It reminded me that I’m fooling myself if I think I can walk this Walk without some discipline.

I know God allows for our differences, our unique makeup, temperament, character and personality, but I’m also convinced there are some absolutes that, while they may not fit our “style”, will help the days pass with a more productive outcome and a more clear view of what we’re supposed to be about.

In this devotional, Jones tells a story of a man who showed up 15 minutes early for an appointment with President Abraham Lincoln. He heard a voice in the next room and asked the attendant: “Who is in the next room? Someone with the President?” “No, he is reading the Bible and praying.” “Is that his habit so early in the morning?” “Yes sir, he spends each morning from four to five in reading the Scriptures and praying.”

Greatness can be thrust on you but the maintenance and the stewardship of that greatness is your choice.

So God help us to be diligent, to not just float. To tune our minds toward Your voice, the whisper, the Word that sometimes comes from a stranger, a thought. And to say no to some of the unwelcome guests that knock on my head all through the day.

Blessings.

Wayne

                                                                           P.S.  Say hello to Will and Annabelle. Born to Adam and Laura on Feb. 22!