Rise and Shine...

 













I am definitely a morning person. Here it is, only 9:45a.m.
and I have put a beef stew into the crockpot, baked a chocolate
cake and some apple dumplings, and done three loads of wash.
Oh, and made myself a lovely breakfast of my favorite poached
eggs AND taken time for reading, praying, and journaling. Now,
I'm readying to complete my sermon for Sunday.

Please, please don't think I'm bragging or looking for praise
of any sort. And I'm sorry if all of this early-morning energy
makes you feel tired. This is just how I function best: rising
at 5 or 5:30a.m. and entering into the day, first in silence and
then in the joy of doing something I love. Of course, not all
my days are like this. Sometimes I have to grit my teeth and
just DO IT...those tasks I really don't enjoy, like cleaning...
talking with those people who set my teeth on edge...
keeping my nose to the well-worn grindstone. (After all,
they're not called "chores" for nothing.)

But I know, have learned through painful experience, that
morning is my best time...for thought, for creativity, for writing,
for daring to venture into new territory with regards to worship and
preaching ideas...for doing those things which fill up my cup of
joy and energy sufficiently to get me through the rest of my day,
regardless of what comes along.

Of course, all of this morning energy means that I am ready to
crash by 9p.m., the time when lots of folks are just coming
into full stride. My brain turns to mush in the evening hours
and, though I do enjoy being with people then (since that's
when most socializing happens), I am certainly not at my
scintillating best.

I guess where I'm going with all this is that we are each and
all unique creations...that part of our call to wisdom is to
learn who and how we are- and then, TO HONOR THAT. I
know...easier said than done, especially when the needs and
desires and wishes of others make it incumbent upon us to
be in ways which go against our own lovely and well-polished
grain. But failing to honor the person we are is, I think, in
some way to dishonor the One Who Loves, the One Who
Creates, the One Who Invites each one of us to our own
personhood, our own uniqueness. And I can only be truly
connected to you and to all creation- and to God- if I am
connected to my Self, the one I have been truly and fully
created to be.

And so, I celebrate being a "morning person". I revel in the
energy inherent in these early hours, well aware that a nap
may have to be in my future around 2p.m. I salute you night
owls, with your joyful celebration of the darkness and the
solitude and silence which it brings. How beautifully we
complement one another. How wonderfully diverse we all are.
How gloriously we can fulfill the needs of our world with our
endless variety. Have a beautiful day, whoever and however
you are.