“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.

Isaiah 60:1-2

This morning, Saturday, my alarm did not succeed in getting me up. Twice. First the primary went off and I was clueless until Rebekah elbowed me. Then, 15 minutes later, the secondary alarm rang and – again, Rebekah had to wake me.

Both times I responded with, “Wha… wha… kay… wha… what? Eh…eh… kay… eh…? Uh… uh… uh…? Kay….kay… wha..? Kay, okay. Wha… what?” Yes, it’s been verified; those were my exact words.

So I eventually managed to move, and then sat on the edge of the bed for a good minute before attempting to go vertical. I stumbled to the bathroom and into some clothes, then splashed my face with cold water. Finally, a good half mile into my morning walk with Max, the fog finally seeped out of my brain enough that I was able to put a coherent thought or two into play.

Good grief sometimes morning can be challenging!

Sometimes a little too early!

I did check my alarm and, yes, I had gone to sleep leaving the volume at zero. It was the vibration that caught Rebekah’s attention. But it has always been thus. She wakes me up, then goes back to sleep; I come in later with coffee and she gets going.

One time – back when I typically got out of bed at 5:30 to give myself time to do everything necessary before leaving for work by 7:30 (I was an elementary school teacher) – Rebekah woke me up with one of her, “Your alarm went off again!” reminders.

I put on my running stuff, jogged 5K, showered and shaved, dressed in work clothes, then returned to the kitchen to put the coffee on when something about how dark it still was – even for the winter – gave me pause.

Then there it was, the kitchen clock on the wall, staring at me with both hands stretched out wide – as if in a shrug: 3:45. Three forty-five in the morning! Rebekah must have pushed me out of bed, I guessed, somewhere around 2:30!

So, after debating with myself for a moment and deciding against turning all the lights on in our bedroom and waking Rebekah up anyway, I set the coffee to go off at 6:30 and crawled back into bed for a couple of hours.

But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. 

Malachi 4:2

So yes, Malachi, I am with you when it comes to “revering God’s name,” and looking – as that final Old Testament prophesy before the birth of Christ – for the sun of righteousness to rise with healing in its rays. But no, Prophet Malachi, I do not envision any early morning scenario where I am going to go out and frolic like the calves. Not likely! Not when I was in my thirties and certainly not today.

Peace and joy this weekend, friends; I will see you in church tomorrow! – DEREK