December Drifting

First and foremost, I must say that day five is definitely better than day four. I still don't know if it is the natural course of my med holiday, or the acupuncture, but I definitely had more energy today. The morning was still awful (I finally got out of bed at 9:30 AM because I HAD to leave the house at 10 AM), but once I got going, I felt okay. I was definitely still sleepy, and I kept my exertion to a minimum, but I did not dose as I had done during the first four days. I even managed to be decently helpful to my wife - which is good since I set her off while we were shopping (not so cool on Christmas Eve).

Beyond the med holiday, though, today is Christmas Eve. I often work to keep religion out of my blog, partly because I see narcolepsy as something that transcends religious affiliation, but also because I know that people of many faiths read this blog. While I know that my Roman Catholic faith is deeply a part of who I am, I would never want to proselytize here and offend someone of a different religious background, or someone who holds a more agnostic, or atheistic, or scientific view of the universe. Having said all of that, though, I must say Merry Christmas to those who are Christian (and Happy Hanukkah to those who are Jewish - though I know that it is a minor holiday I do think the efforts and actions of the Maccabees are way cool - and joyous Kwanzaa to those who celebrate and Happy New Year to those on a western calendar and remember that the whole month is Universal Human Rights Month, as well as World AIDS month).

I had a powerful experience at Mass tonight. First of all, my daughter sang in the youth choir. Not only was it amazing to watch her perform, but it was also wild to have other people see her who had not for some time. She is definitely a young woman in her appearance and her demeanor. It is both amazing and frightening. Beyond that, though, our priest gave his homily about Apollo 13 and "drifting in to nothingness" in space. His primary point was that the entire universe is the creation of Divine force. Whether it is God, or some other spiritual force, the reality is that the energy behind the universe is the same here and billions of light years away. All life and energy in the universe is good and blessed because it was all part of the plan. Earth is not the epicenter of it all. Rather, we are one small piece of the puzzle. It gave me a who new perspective on these past few days. As much as I felt like I was drifting along doing "nothing" in my stupor, the reality is that everything I do is part of something far greater than myself. I can no more drift away than I can disappear or levitate because God loves me always. It is a powerful message to consider.

I hope no one was offended by my theological turn here. While I hold strongly to my own faith, I truly believe that "truth" is in the midst of all beliefs and faiths. How could I, or any human, ever hope to know the mind of something or someone divine? All I know is that I am blessed to have such a good life, a job I enjoy, and a fantastic family. I hope that everyone else in this world has a chance to experience the joy that has been given to me. Narcolepsy is rotten, but I would not trade my life for anything, because the whole package is mine - the good and the bad. Peace be unto all of you!