My Super Gulp

October 14, 2006 Saturday

Joel Akin

Awake thou that sleepest. All right, so its an old proverb but it speaks to all of us to wake up. Over the past day or so I’ve been dealing with the word Yaw or Yawe or Yawn. Now Yawe can mean abyss or chasm. Yaw can be a ship that steers into the chasm. And Yawn can be the result of one who falls asleep or just falls into the yawn. Now I have a tendency for big gulps and super big gulps from 7-11. I have mugs that carry a one liter size. I like my drinks, such as Pepsi and Dr. Pepper and home brewed iced tea in a big glass. I’ve liked it that way for a long time.

Yet what is a big gulp? What is a gulp, like a big gulf, that sometimes seems to big for us? What is it about the Super Size from McDonald’s or a dozen other fast food places? After all when we use the word fast it often means to abstain from food rather then get it quickly. But words are like that. They take us into a gulf or a gulp and they swallow us up so that we are lost in its depths and in its sizes. And so it is with visions and dreams and hopes and desires. We are caught up into them and they become a part of our life. They give us strength or they take it away. And in the meantime we sip little by little on the impossible size of it until it is literally reduced down to just the ice.

Just the ice is like a law of time. We get caught up in the sweetness of the taste of life. And we sometimes forget that there are those out there with stories to tell. We get focussed on the mirror and it only reflects back to us what we see. But what if you, a person who reads this, sees something of him/her self in this article. Something triggers a memory or a thought or an idea. And you rush off to grab a pen or turn off the computer so you can compose a measure. Yet before you begin to write you grab a drink. And just because you put in a little ice. And just because you add a little justice to it.

What is that justice? Think of justice as that which cools and makes cold the law of time. The law of time is like the measure of your heart. It beats out a pattern and it carries a measure and in that measure is a pattern called the story of your life. To you its just a beat, just a sip, just a tiny wisp of blood streaming through keeping you alive. But its worth your time and its worth your life and its worth the beat that you follow. And sometimes its a gulf to you because it carries a vision and you can’t understand it because it seems too big. And in the bigness of life there is a story but you can’t tell it yet because you haven’t the time.

So where then do you begin but that which we’ll call the freezer. In a land far away in another time there was a world that had two suns. One was called ice and one was called heat. The ice sun was frozen and broken and became a dark star. It decided that it would not be pushed around so broke off into its own orbit and was carried to the far reaches of the Milky Way. There is lay amidst the ruins of time and it was frozen. But it had a thought and the thought, as foolish as this sounds to you, “I want to explore....” So think of that dark star as a great Dragon we’ll call the ice dragon. Now he didn’t have a tale you would like for with it came a great Terra Minus or Terminus with it. A world no, but a frozen star. A frozen star that carried a dragon that swept its way across the stars and carried coldness to their hearts.

Now I happen to like a restaurant called Chile’s. They have a great burger called the Old Timer which I order quite often. With it is my favorite tea which is pretty much ever fill able. Yet my time there is based not so much on the pretty waitresses or just the burger or even just the tea but its the atmosphere. I like the place and I like the people who work there and I like the name. It speaks of things both hot and cold. That which is lukewarm becomes something that you want to spew out.

But lets say that the Super Big Gulp of mine gives way to a glass of tea with a tray of ice to keep it cold. And I drink it slowly, stopping now and then to enjoy the sweetness of the honey that I added. Now if you can see where this is going then I know that you are awake and that is good. As in any story the Captain of the ship, or a good writer, has to keep his audience or crew awake with a good crow or outlook.

Sometimes life carries us to places that fill us with knowledge. And in that place we are gifted with stories that we did not have before. And those stories teach us lessons that like the sweet tea and burger bring us back for more. And we become the heat and the cold of it. We become part of the story of life and vision that gives us sight so we can see. And we carry that site, Sanctuary, for you to see so you might become part of its story. Yet time is running out. And soon the story chapters will be written. And those who could have been part of this story ended it with a sigh and said “I have not time enough...” And so ends their part of the story but mine goes on for ever. I know this sounds strange but its true. And I know that God has written part of this story in the corners and brackets. And if you can find Him here then you can find yourself here. For in the here is the hearing and in the site is the sight and in the crowing is the chance of neglect. And sometimes neglect carries us into the chasm which swallows up the stories of time because of lukewarmness. And if you carry a lukewarm heart then this story is written with ‘fast food’ and additives and artificial sweeteners. Yet it is also coded and in the code is written a story of hope. Hope that I write coded lest some might see and understand. For in understanding there is sight.

Anyway I am almost finished. The tale is almost told. And in the telling of it there is a tale that will enrapture you with tears. And carry you into the Yaw. Beware lest the Yawn hold you with its grip. For the Yawn is the sleep of time. And the sleep of time will carry you to a world far away. And it is not the world you wish to see. For the world you wish to see is the one you help make. And if you can make home brewed tea then you can understand my dilemma. For I am a man caught up in Gods vision yet I am still here on earth. And this vision, like my enjoyment for Big and Super Size Gulps, is the size of my vision. It is big and sometimes seems bigger than life. Yet in it is hope for you if you have eyes to see.

Until then listen for the sound of the horn. There is coming back a Word for those with ears to hear. And when the Trumpet blast sounds this story will take on a whole new meaning. Until then enjoy life to the fullest. And watch out for the Yaws and the Yawns.

All the best.

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