The Ethical Journal: WAKING UP BEFORE THE ROOSTER CROWS

My mother use to wake me up around 4:30 a.m. and ask this question, "Are ya up yet?" "Of course not", I would reply, "what sane person wakes up this early in the a.m.". There was a lull and Mom would say "Me". Well, mom, I owe you an apology. I am now at the age you were when you started making those phone calls so now I understand what waking up before the rooster crows means.

Growing up on a farm, we were use to the rooster crowing every morning. The hounds would respond. Then the chickens and the geese began to stir. The Pigs were grunting and the cows started moving. It was time to begin the new day. We went to bed with the hens and got up before the rooster crows in those days so we could be ready to work in the fields before the heat of the day. Jimmy Stewart had nothing on us. "It was a wonderful life". Well, I didn't think so. Was so glad when television came along and we moved to the city and we could sleep later than the rooster crowing. In fact, we didn't have any roosters around to crow just an old fashioned alarm clock to go off at the most inopportune time.

The years passed and mom grew older. The phone calls started. It was around seven at first. Then it keep getting earlier. I couldn't believe it when I would hear the ring ring at 4:30 a.m. My eyes could not open. My ears were clogged. I wanted to ignore, but I knew it would continue so I answered as gleefully as I could. Now that I am the same age as my mom when the calls started, I have learned what it means to arise before the rooster crows. I don't call my children nor any friend at this hour, but I do enjoy the time.

It is a time to enjoy the quiet. There is something about the early morning before the world stirs, the traffic rushes, the television blares, the radio waves roll that calms the soul. The Psalmist calls us "to be still and know that I am God". There is no better way to begin the day that the quiet time of the early morning when the physical, the mind, the spirit, and the soul can be still and enjoy the presence of the one is greater than any of us....God, our creator, our redeemer, and our sustainer.

Instead of seeing God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

I find comfort in understanding God as creator for God is the one who formed the universe and started the detailed relationships of God, humans, animals, plants, and non living things in a universe that exists in delicate relationships that depend on proper balance of the relationships.

I find comfort in God the redeemer for I feel the unconditional love of the eternal God who is love as God becomes one of us so that we may truly see what it means to be redeemed from the tangles of politics, religion, and economics that builds cultures and civilizations that are foreign to the unconditional love of God.

I find comfort in God the sustainer for God is here. God is still creating through us and in us. God is still redeeming us and in us and through us. God sustains through the love of others who add something to our lives by being there for us in times of joy, sorrow, and in times of forgiveness for tresspasses that we have committed.

That is why mom always called me early. Sometimes, she read Scripture and found something she wanted to share the joy of God's presence. Sometimes, she was lonely and wanted to hear my voice to give her comfort in those early hours. Sometimes, she wanted to talk about something that bothered her and she wanted to confess and make right what she had wronged. Mom taught me a lot about God in those early hours that I did not see then nor did I want to hear, but thank you Mom for those calls. I know enjoy the time before the rooster calls. I sense the presence of God for as Kirk Talley so aptly sings, "He is Here".