What Did I Miss?

A soul came into a new body, and immediately, forgetting what she was here for, fell asleep at the beginning of her life.

The personality she became went about the business of being human, completely unaware that anything was wrong.

Seventy-five years passed, and the soul’s time on Earth was over.

The angels responsible for escorting souls back to the Other Side arrived at her deathbed, and took the still sleeping soul in their arms.

Suddenly the soul woke up and saw the angels.

“Whoa, I must have dozed off,” she said. “What did I miss?”


Most of us are sleep walking through life.  We suffer from spiritual amnesia – forgetting who we are and why we are here and not noticing all the beauty and sacredness that surrounds us.  I’ve heard it said that in Sanskrit, the name for the “Buddha” simply means “I’m awake.”  This seems like it could be tied directly to the message of Jesus that might be summarized as, “Wake up.”  Wake up to the love of God.  Wake up to grace.  Wake up to the beauty in this world.  “Look at the birds of the air, consider the lilies… for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see… resurrection life now.”  Wake up to the purpose of life – “To Love God and your neighbor as yourself.”  Wake up to the presence of God in which we live.  Wake up and create your life.  Wake up and live your life.  Wake up and love.  All I know is that I don’t want to wait until after death to wake up and start living.  The invitation is for here and for now.  Each day a renewed sense of awareness of the love of God in which I live and the purposeful and meaningful life of sharing that love with others and enjoying the wonderful adventure of life.  A part of waking up is to see the sacredness now and the real truth that underneath it all everything is holy and everything is spiritual.  The story says, she woke up and saw the angels then…Well, Dear God help me to wake up and see the angels now.  This seems like a good story and prayer for the beginning of a new year and for the beginning of each new day.

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