Tag: Morning

Seen…

“…And in the darkness, before the dawn has begun, all that (Mary) finds is emptiness: there is no body, no beloved, only an absence that must echo the hollow she carries in her own heart.   And then, angels; and then, one who comes to her, calling her name. Confusion turns to clarity, and tears give way to astonished joy. The Magdalene sees.   Oh, my friends. It is Easter Day. Even in the shadows, resurrection is beginning. In the emptiness, in the echoing hollow of our heart, may we hear our name called with a love that breaks into our bewilderment and fear. May we know and see anew the Christ who comes to us in the darkness and in the day, beckoning us to begin again.”

 
 
Seen
A Blessing for Easter Day
 
You had not imagined
that something so empty
could fill you
to overflowing,
 
and now you carry
the knowledge
like an awful treasure
or like a child
that curls itself
within your heart:
 
how the emptiness
will bear forth
a new world
you cannot fathom
but on whose edge
you stand.
 
So why do you linger?
You have seen,
and so you are
already blessed.
You have been seen,
and so you are
the blessing.
 
There is no other word
you need.
There is simply
to go
and tell.
There is simply
to begin.
 

Quote: Jan Richardson 
Blessing: Jan Richardson from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons

Image: Pinterest

Guest House

This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival.

 

Quote: Rumi

Image: Jason Briscoe 

Gratefulness.org

the Quiet time…

“Dawn is coming…… I step quietly from my bed, alive to the silences around me. This is the quiet time, the time of innocence and soft thoughts, the childhood of the day. Now is the moment when I must pause and lift my heart – now, before the day fragments and my consciousness shatters into a thousand pieces. For this is the moment when the senses are most alive, when a thought, a touch, a piece of music can shape the spirit and color of the day. But if I am not careful – if I rise, frantic, from my bed, full of small concerns – the mystical flow of the imagination at rest will be broken, the past and the future will rush in to claim my mind, and I will be swept up into life’s petty details and myriad obligations. Gone will be the openness that comes only to the waking heart, and with it, the chance to focus the spirit and consecrate the day. “

We rise to this day in anticipation. It is the first day of the new year in the Christian tradition. It is the first day of Advent.

May it begin with quiet time – time allowing for ‘ the openness that comes only to the waking heart’.

Quote: Kent Nerburn, Small Grace: The Quiet Gifts of Everyday life

Photo: David Kanigan

Altar of dawn

 

I place on the altar of dawn:
The quiet loyalty of breath,
The tent of thought where I shelter,
Waves of desire I am shore to
And all beauty drawn to the eye.
May my mind come alive today
To the invisible geography
That invites me to new frontiers,
To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
To risk being disturbed and changed.
May I have the courage today
To live the life that I would love,
To postpone my dream no longer
But do at last what I came here for
And waste my heart on fear no more.

Quote:John O’Donohue
Excerpt from ‘A Morning Offering’ found in his books,
To Bless the Space Between Us

Image: Killarney National Park, Co Kerry / Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

This Sunday morning

 

it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world

Mary Oliver