Only one day...
The Navajo teach their children that every morning when the sun comes up, it’s a brand new sun. It’s born each morning, it lives for the duration of one day, and in the evening it passes on, never to return again. As soon as the children are old enough to understand, the adults take them out at dawn and they say, “The sun has only one day. You must live this day in a good way, so that the sun won’t have wasted precious time.” Acknowledging the preciousness of each day is a good way to live, a good way to reconnect with our basic joy.
~ from AWAKENING LOVING-KINDNESS by Pema Chodron
I’m fond of ‘the waking hours’. As I look out my window or sit on my balcony, I watch the sky gradually change from black to dark blue to gentle soft blue, the outlines of clouds sharpen, and the last twinkle of night slowly fades. The sun edges over the horizon in shades of pink and orange. The moon’s outline reminds me that I live within a daily cycle. A cycle that rises and falls. There is clearly a beginning and an end.
As the day begins, I face its journey. With a sense of the familiar, I begin at dawn knowing that day does not always end as I expect.
I am interested in pilgrimages; journeys people take to a sacred place. What draws people to these journeys? With worn maps pointing to paths that have been traveled for centuries, pilgrims follow these roads with Holy Intention.
As I look at dawn, I think of it as a simple way to practice pilgrimage. With the focus on faith’s journey, I wonder just what a day can reveal from its beginning to its end?
Beautiful thoughts and a lovely way to live your best each day.