Skip to main content

The Cinema

Like most, I pretty much have the same bedtime ritual every night.  You know, the whole brush my teeth, read for a short while, bedtime prayers, then it is lights out.  For many, eyes would close and then, they would be off to "the land of dreams."  Lately, I find that when I lie down, my ceiling looks exactly as it did when I crawled into bed two hours earlier.  At the moment that I am finally able to close my eyes, I find myself  in a mental theater.  The lights go down, the movie begins...

Retrospective scenarios begin to flood the mental movie screen.  Imaginary rewrites to the script, a different ending played out before me.  I should have said...Why didn't I...If only I had... I should have...I could have...I would have...and the storyline changes a million times over.  There is a cinematic term that is so fitting for this intellective reenactment.  Mockumentary.  A fictional film that is deliberately designed to "mock" the subject that it features.  Scene after scene is replayed.  A rerun of every conversation.  Every facial expression a motif now magnified and mocking me.

Then, the dust on my ceiling fan brings me back to the reality that I didn't say, I didn't do, and my situation has not changed.  I'm left exhausted, but wide awake.  Solomon might have felt this way when he wrote, "I went to sleep, but my heart is awake..my head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night."  (Song of Solomon 5:2)

Often times, my writing makes reference to battle.  So much of the time, there is a mental tug-of-war going on and there is ALWAYS a spiritual war going on.  A war, good vs. evil, that will continue 'til The End which by the way is when WE WIN for once and for all!  Until, then though, we continue to strive.  We fight. 

At this point, I am reminded of Joshua.  For much of his life, he was engaged in battle for Israel.  I love the final chapters of this Biblical book.  I take great comfort in Joshua 21:44-45, "The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them.  Not one of all the LORD’s good promises...failed; every one was fulfilled."  Chapter 23 records Joshua's farewell speech.  To summarize:
You have seen for yourselves all the Lord has done for Your sake; it was the Lord Your God Who fought for you.  The Lord Himself will drive them out of your way.  He will push them out before you and you will take possession.  Be very strong and careful to obey all that is written.  Hold fast to the Lord Your God because the Lord Your God fights for you, just as He promised.
Now that is the kind of movie ending that will make you rest easy!

Proverbs 3:24 "When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trees Are Trees

Source Unknown "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then, God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light." Genesis 1:1-3 Creation was a six-day process that began and ended with the spoken word of God. He created the heavens and the earth, dry land and the seas, vegetation, seed-bearing plants, and trees on fruit-bearing land. He created seasons, living creatures, and man. Our Creator then rested on the seventh day, the day of fulfillment, the completion of His perfect plan. In one of my favorite passages in Genesis, the scripture depicts the scene of the "Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day." Can you picture it? The Creator walking through His very own creation in the early evening enjoying the brilliant, colorful flowers with their fragrance lingering in the air. The reg...
3 comments
Read more

Wake Up Call

How long will you slumber?  The whispered words from Heaven sent a jolt through my spirit as a blaring alarm clock in the early hours of the morning. I sat bolt upright in my bed feeling a divine transformation taking place in the very depths of my being.  It's time to get up! There is work to do. I cannot tell you how many times in the past few months I have absolutely whined about  everything . In part because I have been suspended in the mire of complacency, living an unimpressive life wandering about in an uninspiring, unproductive, lackadaisical spiritual walk.  Feeling  trapped in circumstances out of my control while being rocked by the waves of indecision and doubt and self-degradation, I had been lulled to sleep. I was not trapped. I was stalled. Body, mind, and spirit. Paused. I cannot tell you how many times in the past few months I have absolutely whined about  everything . In part because I have been suspended in the mire of complacency...
2 comments
Read more

Joseph: Treasure Chest

I've so enjoyed the study of Joseph, thus far.  For me, it has been much like finding a treasure chest, cautiously opening the lid, peering in trying to see everything the chest holds.  Layers upon layers, depths upon depths, discovering and analyzing every part of his life recounted in the Bible like examining small gemstones or more accurately witnessing the most beautiful diamond being formed amidst the ugliest circumstances.  "Natural diamonds are formed about 100 miles beneath the earth's surface where carbon rich rocks are melted by the heat of the earth's mantle, a layer of liquid lava rock, and are compressed by the enormous pressure of the many miles of earth above them. As the earth churns, the heated rock may move upwards away from the heat and cool over time, which can form diamonds if the conditions are just right. It takes hundreds of thousands of years for the process to take place." (ehow.google)  To simplify--high temperature, high pressur...
Post a Comment
Read more