Nighttime

What is your favorite time of day?  Mine is the morning.  For years I’ve had the habit of rising before everyone else so I have the house to myself.  In the peace and quiet, I reflect, pray, read, journal, plan my day, and sit in the silence.  After exercising and eating breakfast, I do my best work of the day.  I’ve always been a morning person, so night people amaze me.  As I’m winding down, they’re just getting started.  That’s really different for me.

Nighttime has a unique meaning spiritually speaking, too.  When we have a nighttime experience in a spiritual sense it means we’ve gone as far as our own light will take us at that point.  Just as we wouldn’t move around our house in the dark, during our spiritual nighttime we’re called to stop and wait for more light.  Wait for - not seek, strive or look for.  No action is required on our part.  Maybe the waiting and inactivity are why nighttime has never appealed to me.

When we’ve tried everything we know to and still can’t see the next step before us, let’s recognize that it’s nighttime.  Let’s not be anxious, but rather rest in the assurance that this quiet time is as necessary for our growth as nighttime is for plants’ development.  It’s a time to rely less on our own personal efforts and more on Divine Law that is always operating on our behalf.  Let’s receive the time of respite and renewal free from concern, knowing that all is well.