His name will be called Emmanuel, / which means God-with-us. Matthew 1: 23
I envy Susie’s and Delia’s ability to “cat-nap”. I used to be able to meditate for twenty minutes every day and I know how beneficial it is. Then, life got busy. Twenty minutes became too precious to give up time for myself. Twenty minutes?
I can’t tell you how many minutes a day I find Susie or Delia lying down in a semi-hypnotic state, if not completely asleep.
My cats are not unusual. Cats spend almost two-thirds of their lives asleep but not the kind of sleep I experience. Cats are really always “awake”–rested and ready to be alive. Ready to jump up and chase the proverbial mouse. Ready to chase their next meal–even if it be my popping the top of a cat food can.
When an angel informed Joseph of Mary’s child to be named “Emmanuel”, he was “awake”, too. He discovered God within him. Joseph embraced this family as His own.
My cats’ DNA is still programmed so they can have a huge energy burst required to chase and capture their next meal. Those “cat-naps” aren’t a luxury. They are a fragment of their ancestors’ survival.
Joseph’s willingness was probably founded in the twenty minutes or so he found in his own survival, going to pray. You know, those twenty minutes or so that I seem to have abandoned.
So, as I rush around in these days before Christmas, in these days before we celebrate the birth of the child to be named “God is with Us”–Emmanuel, I wonder how much time I need to spend with the wrapping and shopping and writing cards. I wonder how much of my time would be better spent.
Perhaps, I should be “cat-napping”, too–ready to be “awake” for God’s call or at least willing to hear it. Maybe, my “cat-napping” shouldn’t be a luxury, but twenty minutes or so out of my day needed for my own survival.
Yes, God is with us–always–if we are “awake” enough to see Him. All around us.
