• Facebook
  • Twitter

Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

  • Home
  • My Books
  • Essays
  • Contact

A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light.

By Anita Mathias

“Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light!” John 11:9
I certainly don’t want to extrapolate more from Jesus’s words than he himself meant. On the other hands, the words of Jesus are full of wisdom and can be read on multiple levels.
One of the meanings this passage has for me is that one can live in a more godly, virtuous way if one rises with the sun (or before, like Jesus, “very early in the morning, while it was yet dark.”). And sleeps early too.
When do most marital fights occur? At night, when people are tired and irrational. When are children most likely to melt-down? Around bedtime.
When are we most likely to waste time, internet surfing, browsing, just hanging around doing nothing much? Late evenings.  What do we eat at night? Carbs!
In general, crime occurs at night. We are shocked if we hear of crime “in broad daylight.” Just installing street lighting cuts down on the occurrence of crime.
I am wondering if time would be used in a more satisfying and virtuous way if we rose early and slept early.
As I’ve blogged elsewhere, this has been a struggle for me all my life, and now, in mid-life, I am getting the hang of waking up early. And love it.
Which shows that it is never to late to change, even in mid-life or later.

More from my site

  • “In This World You Will Have Troubles.” Reflecting on the Purpose of Suffering“In This World You Will Have Troubles.” Reflecting on the Purpose of Suffering
  • In which the Kindly Light of Christ can Heal our Worst MemoriesIn which the Kindly Light of Christ can Heal our Worst Memories
  • In Him was life, and that life was the light of menIn Him was life, and that life was the light of men
  • When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Proverbs 3When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Proverbs 3
  • Failing Better: A New Year’s Resolution, of sortsFailing Better: A New Year’s Resolution, of sorts
Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter

Filed Under: random Tagged With: Early Rising

« Previous Post
Next Post »

Sign Up and Get a Free eBook!

Sign up to be emailed my blog posts (one a week) and get the ebook of "Holy Ground," my account of working with Mother Teresa.

Join 654 Other Readers

Follow me on Twitter

Follow @anitamathias1

Anita Mathias: About Me

Anita Mathias

Read my blog on Facebook

Premier Digital Awards 2015 - Finalist - Blogger of the year
Runner Up Christian Media Awards 2014 - Tweeter of the year

Recent Posts

  • Writing and Prayer
  • For our griefs, failures, tears, Christ’s desire is “Let nothing, nothing be wasted”
  •  Finding Golden Hours in Dark Days (and Some Thoughts on Forgiveness)
  •  On Keys (of the Kingdom), and Knowing Where to Cast one’s Net
  • On Quitting Things…and Breaking Free
  • How to Enjoy a Big, Spacious, Open-hearted Life
  • Listening to your Body, Listening to your Life
  • On why God Permits our Weaknesses and Frailities to linger, and on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit–and its limits!
  • In Praise of Desert and Wilderness Experiences
  • It’s all God’s money: Thoughts on “the Cattle on a Thousand Hills”

Categories

My Books

    Amazon.com         Amazon.co.uk







Archive by month

Error: Access Token is not valid or has expired. Feed will not update.
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

There's an issue with the Instagram Access Token that you are using. Please obtain a new Access Token on the plugin's Settings page.
If you continue to have an issue with your Access Token then please see this FAQ for more information.

Instagram

Load More...Follow on Instagram

Google Ad

© 2018 Dreaming Beneath the Spires · All Rights Reserved.

»
«