"Mommy, does sleeping feel the way it was before we were born?"
Such questions are not uncommon from my seven-year-old Daniel, who ponders mysteries of science and soul in an often startling manner. Why did this question give me particular pause?
Since newborns can distinguish the voice of their own mothers, it stands to reason that we have cognitive abilities before birth. Then memories from the dark side of the womb elude us after birth, suggesting that fetal consciousness may indeed parallel the quasi-consciousness of sleep.
It has been asserted that dreams are real while we experience them. But the land of dreams offers more confusion than clarity, and journeys into egocentric subconscious more often than into divine revelation from another realm. If we are awakened by a dream, we are likely to find ourselves as initially bewildered as the infant who draws a first unfamiliar breath.
Perhaps the world of sleep and the world before birth are as much alike as they are similar to our life before Christ. We sleepwalk through that dark world as if we are its center, our souls clouded with the vague unease that another realm beckons us to awaken.
But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says:
"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light."
~ Ephesians 5:13-14 (NKJV)
Like natural birth, being born again in Jesus is The Great Awakening of our lives. Yet until the day we emerge from the womb of this world into The Other Side, we should anticipate smaller spiritual awakenings with as much expectation as we anticipate morning light when our head sinks into pillow.
The imperative to "arise from the dead" is the invitation both to made alive in Christ, and to continually emerge from darkness. Unless we actively search out the light of Christ on a daily basis, we are likely to travel through the Christian life as if sleepwalking.
"Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping."
~ Jesus, Mark 13:35-36 (NKJV)
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply. You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Wow, so true sis. I love you, continually praying for you.
ReplyDeleteDenise, may the Lord keep us wide awake, EVERY day! I love you!
DeleteThank the Lord for Spiritual awakenings...."The imperative to "arise from the dead" is the invitation both to made alive in Christ, and to continually emerge from darkness. Unless we actively search out the light of Christ on a daily basis, we are likely to travel through the Christian life as if sleepwalking." I love that.....Lori
ReplyDeleteHow blessed I am, Lori, to know that these words touched your heart. I thank God, with you, for ALL Spiritual Awakenings, great and small.
DeleteAn apt analogy, Anne...and closely related to one I have pondered recently...but struggled with how to express it without it coming out as just weird-sounding.
ReplyDeleteI can give you a hint, though. It has to do with Jesus being our Deliverer and use of the word "Deliver" as in how a mid-wife delivers a child.
Joe, I don't think there's anything the least bit weird about your thought. The people of Bible times were far more familiar with functions of the body such as childbirth, and far less shy about speaking of them. I firmly believe that God made all of creation a multitude of metaphors through which to reveal Himself. Some of the posts I've labled "Union with Christ" rely heavily on such metaphors.
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