Taking Faith SeriouslySample

Get Up Early

Andy Kind is a published writer and an award-winning comedian with over 2,000 gigs under his belt. But his first love? Preaching the gospel. Nowadays, a typical weekend for Andy looks like a Saturday night comedy gig followed by a Sunday morning sermon. Below, he tells us about his favorite spiritual habits with humility and honesty — and a bit of humor, of course.

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Reading the Bible is probably where I’m most restoring my soul at the moment. In the beginning was the Word. Language and story were hardwired into the cosmos from day one, so reading Scripture is a way of engaging with timeless truth in a time-bound wrapper.

Life seems so bizarre these days. With everyone climbing over one another to stay on the right side of history, nobody knows what we’re supposed to believe or affirm this week or who we need to cancel. There’s something awfully reassuring about sitting in the presence of something (or rather, someone) so unchanging.

My routine is to get up early, no matter what time I’ve gone to bed (I’ll always take an afternoon nap), brew a cup of coffee, and sit in my rocking leather armchair, splashing about in Scriptures. I try to then move into talking and listening to God, but I can’t do that until I’ve read. Interestingly, it’s the same with my writing. Until I’ve read something, I can’t write. They say that if you win the first hour of the day, you win the day. So I have to do all that early. If I get to 11 a.m. without forming the day properly, chances are, I won’t do very much at all for the remaining 12 hours. It’s almost as though I accept defeat and then self-sabotage like a classic freelancer.

I’m not a worshipper in a musical sense, nor can I lie on the floor chattering with adoration. Fasting means not eating, so no thanks. I worship by doing what I’ve been called to do and trying to do it excellently, but I need my mind protected and girded and guided by God’s Word — or else I’m no good to anyone.

—Andy Kind, stand-up comedian, as told to Rapt Interviews