Around five this morning, Silvi slept on my chest for the better part of an hour. As she slept, I thought about the many sermons I heard growing up about doing your devotions first thing in the morning. "A man who starts his day without God is like a man without breakfast!" Morning devotions were part of my spiritual culture. The more "holy" one became, the earlier they would rise to spend time with God in his Word.
As Silvi lightly snored, I realized that I had finally shaken all the guilt I had accumulated over the years. The guilt of not sitting in the morning darkness, highlighter in hand, doing devotions.
This morning, with the help of my daughter, I was simply being a devotion.
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Hudson Taylor was once staying at a guest house en route to his first expedition to China. He remembered being awakened at 4:30 a.m. by the elderly host and when questioned about such an early rise, the host replied: "I always take a freezing cold shower in the morning to prepare me for three hours of devotions."
Amazed at the host's sincerity and sense of conviction, Taylor struggled for the rest of his life over his failed attempts at morning devotions.
Maybe God is more interested in our desire for devotions rather than the time of day in which it is accomplished. Meditations with God is important, of course, and should be enjoyed daily--whenever is most convenient and practical to our modern lives.
If I take lukewarm showers, will that prepare me for one-and-a-half hours of devotions?
Unfortunately not. And for the irreverant humor you can now sprinkle some holy water on your face--freezing cold holy water.
tough crowd ...
If the holy water is lukewarm, am I only absolved from half of my "sin"?
Not if it's holy water per se or baptismal holy water. However, I have to warn you, if it's Gregorian water or Easter water, it could be considered "tainted" and you could get sick (like Stewie on that one episode of Family Guy).
I'll make sure to use only the purest of Vatican-endorsed, lukewarm holy waters.
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