“Spirituality means waking
up”. (Anthony De Mello)

With its dark and dreary days winter is a good time to sleep. However, it also is a good time to wake up. Sleeping is easier than waking up but waking up is more rewarding.

When you are asleep in daily life not much makes you feel. You just go through the routine of living, eating, talking, sleeping, watching TV and keep busy. When you are awake in daily life everything makes you feel. You feel great sadness and great joy, despair and hope, alive and dead. When you are alive you seek information but there is always too much.

For example, a good friend send me a multi-part YouTube videos today on the lies and misrepresentations that led to the war in Iraq. There was no new information on the video but just being reminded of the damage, suffering and death greed and lies brought down was hard to hear. Although the video was well done, the truth was too much and after awhile I had to give up watching the videos.

As I look back on last year and look ahead to the New Year I think of all the experiences that shaped 2010. On the dark side there is death of my son, rejection in the battle to have Marquette University stop teach war, seeing an increase in war spending, the silence or just too much talk of many to violence in our society. On the light side there is all the wonderful friends and families that were there for us when we needed them; there was the encouragement and signs of hope that came to be.

It is hard to be awake but once awake in life it is impossible to stay asleep.

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