Awake in the UnGodly Hours

Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark. // John 20:1

In the dark of the night, my feet swung to the floor, and I pushed on my glasses. It would be hours before anyone else in my family would awaken, but I could not fall back asleep. My mom went through a period in life where she could not always sleep through the night and so, following her example, I went to work.

I whipped up a loaf of banana bread and put it in the oven. Next I tossed a load of laundry in the washing machine. Dirty dishes were washed, the kitchen floor was swept, the laundry was progressed, and towels folded.

Mine was the work of a restless, perimenopausal woman, but there are so many souls who work in the deep of the night. Nurses, janitors, flight attendants, police dispatchers, and gas station attendants, mothers of newborns or sick children and adult daughters caring for their aging parents—all of them know the struggle of working at night. While the world sleeps, they show up.

I like to think of Mary Magdalene as the patron to all of us who work in the time between dusk and dawn. “Early in the morning, while it was still dark,” Mary Magdalene came to the tomb to care for Jesus. While the world slept, she showed up. On this Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, may God bless all of those who labor while it is still dark, and may they bring the Light of Christ to everyone they serve.

Are you awake in these night hours? Who can you pray for who also is awake?

While the world slept, she showed up. // Bonnie Engstrom Click to tweet

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