I came downstairs after my shower yesterday—midmorning, post-workout—to find Michael lying on the couch, half-covered up by a throw and staring out at nothing. I had intended to take him to the basement and let him play with the multitude of toys there while I worked at the piano on edits for the last piece for my Easter collection for flute & piano. But it’s been a rough transition for him, going from morning preschool and afternoon nap to afternoon preschool and no nap at all. So instead, I laid down on the couch beside him and wrapped him up in my arms. “You tired, sweetie?”
“Yeah,” he said in his “forlorn” voice.
“You want to take a nap?”
An extended nod, there against my chest. Then an extended shake of the head. I laughed, and so did he.
I knew I should just cover him up with the throw, kiss his cheek, and go do my work. An unplanned nap? In the morning? This is a gift from God, wrapped in pretty paper and tied with a bow.
But I was sleepy, too, and he felt so good in my arms. And maybe, after all, the gift was a different one: the gift of stillness, one I could embrace—literally—or toss away in favor of an extra half hour of work time.
I closed my eyes, and we snuggled down in the quiet house. My brain treated me to a tour of all the things I could and should be doing, but I pretended it wasn’t talking, and the shrieking faded to a dull roar.
I love being snuggled up with a child in the moment when they go to sleep. The breathing changes. The body relaxes. I couldn’t sleep myself, but I laid there with his head on my arm, eyes closed, opening them every so often to look at those impossibly long lashes, then closing them again to rest in stillness.
And then, after a handful of minutes, inSpiration trickled through the synapses and sang me the solution to my editing quandary. Regretfully, I maneuvered his head off my arm and onto the couch pillow and went downstairs, knowing I’d probably solved the problem more quickly by NOT doing than I would have if I’d gone straight to the basement as planned.
And filled my heart in the process.
Kathleen M. Basi 
What a lovely image!
Dear Kate,
I loved this story, thank you. I think psychologists have a term for this kind of inspiration. But the Scriptures tell us God often speaks to us in dreams and that semi-dream state of restfulness. It’s always a serendipity and when gifted as you were, there is such a blessing that “Thank you” often seems too small an expression of gratitude.
I think science is great, but in my opinion, most things that people are so excited to discover are the physical mechanisms by which the Spirit works. I think it’s fun to see how faith bears out in scientific terms, and it enriches my faith, but I rarely find that there’s anything new coming to me through science–only rational enlightenment of what I already knew.
On Fri, Sep 30, 2016 at 4:07 PM, Kathleen M. Basi wrote:
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