John abruptly woke up one day! He wasn't sure he was ready to wake up, but wake up he did! All his friends had warned him ( numerous times ) about the dangers of getting out of bed, but on this particular morning, John just couldn't stay in bed any longer; he just felt that he had to roust himself out of bed & shake off the vestiges of slothful slumber that had taken hold of him. For one thing, his body was telling him that he could no longer find comfort between those silken sheets; he had to get out before he was totally overcome! Also, there was that still small voice that told him he must rise now, or go back to sheep!
On the other side of town lived a young man named Christopher. Christopher had already been awake for quite some time & had been speaking with John on lunch-break at their place of employment, Pilgrim Foods. Over the course of several years, as Christopher had shared with John the effects of being awake; although it usually made him very uncomfortable ( scared the hell out of him, in fact ), John couldn't help returning to those lunch-time meetings every day for those several years to learn about this freedom his friend had found!
Daphne, John's lovely wife ( she liked her mask though ), was not so sure about this 'waking up' thing; she felt very comfortable where she was & she did NOT feel bad about it! Her body was not telling her it was time to get out of bed, nor did she hear that still small voice that was urging her to wake from her slothful slumber. Her husband was learning though, that once you've woken up, it's hard to go back to sheep!
John & Daphne were approaching their 25 year wedding anniversary ( about as long as Christopher had walked this earth ) & had spent most of those years in wedded bliss! John had found in the past several years, however, that it was getting more & more difficult to open up to his beautiful wife. These strange new ideas that had been fomenting in his poor befuddled brain threatened to drive a wedge between him & his lovely bride!
One day, that momentous day in fact, that John decided to hit the ground running & shake off those vestiges of slumber; Daphne decided she would rather retain her relative comfort between the sheets & go back to sheep: 'make your own breakfast', she mumbled. John's first thought was to respond in kind & assert his just right as a husband, but instead he told her to enjoy her repose, and wake up when she was ready. He had a job to do!
When John got to work that day, he learned that Christopher had been 'let go' for proselytizing on the job ( even though it WAS on lunch-break )! Although John was rather disappointed, he decided that he had been awake long enough that he could carry on without Christopher. Christopher had done him a big favour, waking him out of his slumber like that, but having done his job, Christopher had decided it was time to move on & wake up the next one!
After a long but rewarding day at work ( his name was Juan ), John returned home to find Daphne still ensconced within the relative comfort of her slothful slumber! Being somewhat concerned to find his wife still sleeping, John gently woke his slumbering wife, asking in a still small voice if she was okay. Daphne's eyelids fluttered as she heard the voice of her lover &; it was then, as she really felt his presence for the first time in several years, that she decided it was time to wake up; she wouldn't go back to sheep!
Charles Haddon Shank
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