Sweet Dreams

More from Homer... 

While Odysseus and his men wait for weather good enough to sail home, they hang out longer than they'd like on the island of Helios, the sun god. With their provisions gone, they find themselves starving. Having warned his boys not to touch the immortal cattle of the sun god, heroic Odysseus falls asleep praying for wisdom and then, when he wakes to find his men have ignored his warning and sealed their fate, blames the gods for letting him fall asleep.

Haven't you ever fallen asleep while praying? What a great way to drift off! What a peaceful posture for slumber! If your last words of the day are prayers, how sweet your sleep. 

As it turns out, falling asleep actually saves Odysseus.  What happens when the great leader snoozes? His men kill several off-limits cows (yes, another BBQ) and are cursed for it:  Helios entreats Zeus to strike them, going so far as threatening to take his burning orb to the underworld to light the dead. Not willing to risk losing the sun, Zeus lets loose a terrible lightning bolt, shattering the Ithacan ship and killing all the sailors. 

Except Odysseus. Innocent of the act, he is spared. Because he was sleeping, he lives. The very thing he cursed the gods for turns out to save him. 

How many times do we blame God for one thing and then realize later that He was actually protecting us from something else far more horrible? From our limited perspective, we fail so often to trust Him to "lead us in paths of righteousness." We think we know better. We whine. We complain. We rail against Him. And then, in hindsight, we humbly confess our foolishness when His way works best and we realize that, had we gotten our way, destruction would have ensued. He does, after all, see the whole story, all unfurled before Him though, for us, it remains tightly folded from view. 

Perhaps the best course of action tonight is to fall asleep in prayer. 

Sweet dreams.