"It was a dark and stormy night...." Charles M. Schulz didn't invent that phrase associated with mystery novels....but Snoopy made it an often used cliche. The meaning of course is that....if it's a dark and stormy night....then danger is in the air.....but I want to challenge that in this post. Oh yes....a dark and stormy night is conducive to mayhem....but I will tell you something more dangerous....a gorgeous 72 degree day....sunny with a pleasant breeze....and different floral aromas around every turn.
We all know to be vigilant of roaring lions....but our defenses seem always to be down when it comes to becoming drowsy. Dorothy fell asleep in the poppy fields laid by the Wicked Witch....but that was no more than a fairy tale.....whereas John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress....is as real as the pages it was written on. In it Christian becomes weary going up the Hill of Difficulty....and God provided an arbor for Christian to rest....but not fall sound asleep at....which Pilgrim did....only to be awakened by a voice saying...."Go to the ant, thou sluggard".....for we have souls to pray for....balm to distribute....and the evangel to offer....just as it was offered to us!
This isn't new to me....for I have fallen alseep many times on beautiful days like I described above. I know the danger.....and as I walk among the proverbial poppies....I tell myself to be careful not to fall asleep.....not to let the blue sky....with passing snowy white clouds....and deep green trees placed there as a perfect contrast...nor the floral aromas....cause me to become drowsy.....not in a physical sense where I need to lay down.....but a spiritual sense....where I forget about that lion.
Today was such a day for me....perfect weather....not too hot.....a local craft show with which to explore....and friends here and there to exchange pleasantries with....and as I walked in this idyllic scene....I reminded myself every time that the comfortable setting became too strong.....that this world is full of violence....with pain enough to cause multitudes to call out to God in anguish....and tears enough to cover the mountains as in Noah's Flood....and lions everywhere.....roaring.....and chained.....but if one became drowsy he might walk right up to that lion.
So it would not be unusual.....as a matter of fact I hear it quite often.....the Christian giving God the glory for such a beautiful day....but that day is only given as a temporary rest....as a shaded bench at a park craft show might be....not a hammock to fall asleep in....only to be awakened by a thurderbolt splitting the tree that was chosen for shade.
