"Is my soul asleep?
Have those beehives that work
in the night stopped? And the water-
wheel of thought, is it
going around now, cups
empty, carrying only shadows?
No, my soul is not asleep.
It is awake, wide awake.
It neither sleeps nor dreams but watches,
its eyes wide open
far-off things, and listens
at the shores of the great silence."
~Antonio Machado
These are the days to be awake, wide awake. As the cold temperatures try to lull us into a numbed existence, we are being urged to look for the ways the Holy takes shape in our midst. This is the season of Epiphany in the Christian church. It is a season that celebrates the Magi, those wise ones who traveled great distances to get a peek at the Christ Child. They loaded up their camels with their best gifts and followed a star hoping to be changed forever. We never really learn how it worked out for them but we know their fear of Herod led them to 'go home by a different way'. That change of route may have been enough to take them to places they never thought they'd go, meeting people that stretched their world view, giving new shape to their lives and their very souls. Each of us should be so lucky.
Too often I allow myself, instead, to be shaped by the 'beehives that work in the night' buzzing with useless chatter of the shoulds and oughts that plague nighttime. Too often I let the 'water-wheels of thought' spin round and round in the empty, shadowed places that rarely nurture my soul. But in these days of Epiphany, when the brilliant sun shines down on the frozen images outside my window, I can shake my head and, if I am lucky, jar loose the cobwebs that have grown over these last weeks. In that shaking I become aware of my body and the soul that finds a home here. I can breathe deeply and allow that breath to ride softly from my toes to the top of my head and slowly out my nostrils. Yes, I am awake, wide awake. And with each breath I am nurtured and buffeted with the Spirit that gives life, new life even in a cold and frigid place like Minnesota in January.
Epiphany is a short season, only a little over five weeks, but if we stay awake it can be a time that can take each of us home by a different way. When we look for God sightings in the course of our daily lives, in the tiny details and the big stories that make up every day, we will make room for more light, creating more space for our souls. When we stay awake to the ways the Holy moves among us when we least expect it, we become even more aware of the ways we may offer our gifts to a world that needs healing and wholeness.
It's all open to us, if we are awake, wide awake, fulling listening, embracing the great silence. And I can almost promise, there will be no camel riding required!