Skip to main content

When The Brain Throws Its Own Private Party


That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him.  It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. “What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?” the king asked. “Nothing has been done for him,” his attendants answered. (Esther 6:1-3) 

          I can relate to poor King Xerxes. I yawn, my brain calls for the bouncer to throw me out, so it can lock up, and the clock tells me it’s time to go to bed. I put everything away, turn out the light, crawl into bed and… I’m wide awake. My mind is racing a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out (in last night’s case) a quilting pattern that will somehow represent the nine surviving (until recently) jidekers (schools/libraries.) It’s not a difficult pattern, but which color goes with which jideker? Is there a symbol that I can try to find in a fabric, etc. The king’s solution is probably better than mine. If I got up and read for five minutes, or wrote for five minutes in my journal, I’d probably fall right to sleep. I just let the mind that kicked me out have its own private party for a couple hours and take a nap or two the next day when I’m supposed to be working.
           Xerxes calls on his staff to come read to him of the glories of his past deeds. “Once upon a time… some insignificant, regular guy named Mordecai discovered a plot to assassinate the king. He reported it, and the ensuing investigation saved the king’s life. The end.” 
          “Wait…wait… you missed a part. What happened to the ‘happily ever after’? I mean, yes, I have lived happily ever after, but what about Mordecai?”
          “What about Mordecai?”
          “Well, did I, I don’t know, pay off his school loans? His mortgage? Did I give him a job? Did I invite him to a party? Did I even send him a worthless thank you note?” (Clerk’s translation: did you, did anyone?)
         Clerk reads associated memos. “Um, no.”
          “Well, we’ve got to do something!”
          The clerk thinks, “We? How about going to sleep?”
          Three more reasons why it’s good to journal. It helps when you can’t sleep, it reminds you of your shortcomings and your goals, and it gives you ideas.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more