Double Jeopardy

 Scripture

Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing! — came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.   (John 1:3-5MSG)  

Double Jeopardy 

We were both born on May 1st, but my friend Pekka is a year younger. We have become grizzled veterans of life and have shared our successes and failures, joys and sorrows, questions, and answers for more than 40 years. We also share a common affinity to the TV game show “Jeopardy”.  

With our spouses we watch “religiously” and have moments when we shout out answers at the TV screen. We were laughing over lunch last week because we both have moments when we can see the answer, know the name, event or date but somehow can’t say it. Our random-access memory seems challenged. Is it an aging thing or are we just so overwhelmed with information and our brains are so full it’s a challenge to sort through it all intelligently? 

Maybe we need a “brain Sabbath” on a regular basis. We think it's an issue of aging memory but a host of people from all generations are experiencing the same thing with memory recall. We wondered if we even could release our faces from screens, books, magazines and whatever other bombardments we experience and do nothing for 30 minutes. The jumble of our minds might clear by sitting looking at a leaf on the ground, a painting on our walls, the rain falling on our windows.  

In my own small way, I’m going to try. The still small voice of the Spirit may cleanse and refresh if I create space for clarity.  

A Prayer for Today

O God our Father, we are overwhelmed with all the inputs, pulls and pushes on our lives, we can’t make sense of so many stories from the very personal to the global. Grant us some window to be quiet and find some moments when the bombardments stop, and clarity of mind and heart may be restored. Let the light and wisdom of your Spirit be ours today …. For Jesus’ sake