Awake and Asleep

Awake and AsleepJon Acuff I read an article in last month's Men's Journal about some coal miners that died in a tragic accident. While trapped miles under the earth, with their oxygen running out and death coming quickly, the men decided to write some notes to the people they loved. One note said:"It wasn't bad. I just went to sleep."That is a gift...if you are dying.That was a kindness, a man letting his family know that he did not suffer. I was overwhelmed by the selflessness of that action. With only a few short breaths left, that man did not focus on the pain he was in, but instead used his last energy to do everything he could to ease the pain of the people he loved.But if you are alive...if you still have years ahead of you, if you are still above ground, breathing and living, that note is note a gift.It is a curse.It is a note that I wrote to describe my own life for many, many years."It wasn't bad. I just went to sleep."Things weren't horrible, I just went to sleep. I stopped caring about anyone but me. I stopped giving and focused on taking. I let go of risk and settled into a nice, safe, comfortable life."It wasn't bad. I just went to sleep."I am tired of living that way.Tired of writing that note.Tired of being those words.I don't know if you're like me and it's easy for you to fall asleep. Easy to focus on the wrong things. Easy to miss the love and the life and the joy God keeps whispering in the corners of your day.Well, this year, I've got two words for you: Wake up.Wake up.Wake up.Wake up.That is my prayer for 2009. That I would not sleep. That I would not live a life that is really not all that alive. That I would remember Revelation 16:15, "blessed is he who stays awake."What kind of note will you write this year?