I awaken to the muted thumping of my upstairs neighbors' feet on their floor/my ceiling. The room is still a murky gray and I slip from between the covers to open the blinds and discover the day. I am not a big blind lover, but until I get my curtains hung, I am sentenced to living behind closed windows, cut off from the world that invigorates me. I must have green and blue and sunshine or I wither and wilt.
Today, the world is softened by the overcast sky. I hear the continual drip drip drip of rain clambering down the rainspout and dribbling onto the concrete below. The window glass is speckled by drops of water that have splashed up from the grass. It is a gentle and comforting sound, lowering blood pressure and racheting back the intensity of wound-tight schedules. I tiptoe to the kitchen to make a cup of Prince of Wales tea (no citrus), then adjust my pillows so I can sit comfortably on my bed and read my devotions.
I begin with my Small Book of Prayers, a little red book filled with time-tested prayers. I select the entries for second week of the month, Friday morning. I find these scripted prayers help me think bigger and engage in a wider diversity of concerns. Then I sing Psalms (yes, SING - they are, after all, songs) and read the gospel passages and prayers in Phyllis Tickle's Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime. After that, I turn to my own little prayer journal to jot down what is on my heart today, people, projects, issues. Finally, I turn to my large print NRSV Bible and read a Proverb and a section from, right now, the gospel of John. I ponder these readings for a bit, letting the Holy Ghost direct my thoughts. Sometimes I get the most amazing insights during this time - not exactly lectio divina, but along that line.
Sugar is curled up at the foot of the bed, her tail covering her nose. She knows that I will begin my day when I am ready and not before and has given up begging for my attention during these first moments I am awake. It is just at this point that I am finally ready to enter into awareness of God. Up to this point, it has been more like prep work, getting myself realigned and adjusted, cleaned up, focused. Kind of religious calisthenics or eating a healthy meal or reading a letter from a loved one.
So far, I have not actually done anything more than engage my mind and perhaps my heart. Now comes the important part - to be with God. To move from reading about to being in the presence of God. Set those love letters aside and hug in person. Radical thought, I know. Over the top. One must be properly prepared to meet the king, even if he is your father. For the next however many minutes, I seek an audience with the Creator - a morning hug, if you will - before I head out for the day.
I am not always successful in sensing his presence. Some days it is as if I showed up for the date and he did not. Or I got the place wrong. Or the time wrong. Or I just don't realize who he is and I pass by not connecting, strangers in the night. Or I am not appropriately attired. Other times though, it is sweet. I sense his love and care and grace, his uplifting strength. It is refreshing and invigorating. Those are the times I hang on to and embrace. What is a day without the one you love? What is a day indeed without the satisfying connection that makes me breath and live and have my being.
Today, the world is softened by the overcast sky. I hear the continual drip drip drip of rain clambering down the rainspout and dribbling onto the concrete below. The window glass is speckled by drops of water that have splashed up from the grass. It is a gentle and comforting sound, lowering blood pressure and racheting back the intensity of wound-tight schedules. I tiptoe to the kitchen to make a cup of Prince of Wales tea (no citrus), then adjust my pillows so I can sit comfortably on my bed and read my devotions.
I begin with my Small Book of Prayers, a little red book filled with time-tested prayers. I select the entries for second week of the month, Friday morning. I find these scripted prayers help me think bigger and engage in a wider diversity of concerns. Then I sing Psalms (yes, SING - they are, after all, songs) and read the gospel passages and prayers in Phyllis Tickle's Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime. After that, I turn to my own little prayer journal to jot down what is on my heart today, people, projects, issues. Finally, I turn to my large print NRSV Bible and read a Proverb and a section from, right now, the gospel of John. I ponder these readings for a bit, letting the Holy Ghost direct my thoughts. Sometimes I get the most amazing insights during this time - not exactly lectio divina, but along that line.
Sugar is curled up at the foot of the bed, her tail covering her nose. She knows that I will begin my day when I am ready and not before and has given up begging for my attention during these first moments I am awake. It is just at this point that I am finally ready to enter into awareness of God. Up to this point, it has been more like prep work, getting myself realigned and adjusted, cleaned up, focused. Kind of religious calisthenics or eating a healthy meal or reading a letter from a loved one.
So far, I have not actually done anything more than engage my mind and perhaps my heart. Now comes the important part - to be with God. To move from reading about to being in the presence of God. Set those love letters aside and hug in person. Radical thought, I know. Over the top. One must be properly prepared to meet the king, even if he is your father. For the next however many minutes, I seek an audience with the Creator - a morning hug, if you will - before I head out for the day.
I am not always successful in sensing his presence. Some days it is as if I showed up for the date and he did not. Or I got the place wrong. Or the time wrong. Or I just don't realize who he is and I pass by not connecting, strangers in the night. Or I am not appropriately attired. Other times though, it is sweet. I sense his love and care and grace, his uplifting strength. It is refreshing and invigorating. Those are the times I hang on to and embrace. What is a day without the one you love? What is a day indeed without the satisfying connection that makes me breath and live and have my being.
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