You have to get up pretty early in the morning: in fact in this region, you would have had to get up at 5:47 this morning, to have a chance to see the sun guild the bridge — if it were sunny then.
I’m never excited about dawn, unless i’m up… then I’m transformed as the light blesses the day.
Whether we see the dawn, we would do well to get up blessing the day and its Beauty. It makes it so much easier to go about the business of Peace.
Not every day starts quickly. It’s true, some days you wake up and zoom, you’re on your game with stuff to do and places to go.
Other days, life happens a bit more deliberately. You take the time to linger in all the stages of coming to the day. Why should Dawn be any different?
Some days the Sun gives the world a slow start.
Drink it in. It’s a different Peace. The more sides of Peace we know, the better able we are to offer it.
Some evenings and some mornings, the beauty of the sky is enough to talk about.
It’s sad how infrequently we give ourselves time to “indulge” (indulge????) in the beauty of this world. Beauty is such an astonishing gift; we should honor it, not take it for granted.
It’s good to stop and gaze in reverence as the sun is going down, to notice the colors and shadows that are cast. It’s good to stop and gaze in wonder as the sun rises, and gently blesses the new day with beauty.
If we make time and invite others to share that with us, then we are sowing seeds of Peace. Perhaps that’s all the seeds of Peace really are, Beauty — and perhaps Compassion.
Let us give Peace and Beauty their due.
I’m a little more hopeful today, simply because it is a new day. And because the atrocities of the days before demand that many of us develop some sense of purpose about race, violence, guns.
We must be resourceful. And in our determination we must be Peaceful.
No does not need to be shouted. It simply needs to be inexorable. We shall not be moved.
We shall not be moved from our determination to make a difference.
We shall not be moved from our determination insist on Justice.
We shall not be moved from our determination to make Peace.
We shall not be moved. And may Dawn soften our hearts into Peace and settle them on justice. Blessed Be. Blessed Sabbath.
Black lives do matter. Police lives do matter. What we do with our lives matters as well.
Up early this morning, not quite early enough to see the coming of the light… since sunlight was a bit subdued.
But the Sun is rising about as early as it will rise all year. Only four more minutes to add to the day from the morning side… (a few more than that for the evenings).
Quiet golden dawns are an invitation to reflection… Sabbath is an invitation to reflection. I keep wondering about, poking at the notion that I might start Sabbath at sundown Friday along with so many of my friends and enjoy it all the way through Sunday sundown. I would want to live deliberately during that time; to be present and conscious…
Maybe that can be a goal for my time away this summer… slow, peaceful days — with some fun in the sun with my favorite folk tossed in.
It’s early, here, but I have a bit of sermon to polish and tuck into my ipad. Wishing you a lovely day, hot and humid as it is…
Sigh. I was up. but I couldn’t make it out of the house. Too many exercises to do with the PT. And although my Sabbath is perhaps a good day to do this… it’s also my busiest work day, so there are lists to be gotten through before I walk out the door. Do I have this and this and this?
I’ve gotten so far away from early mornings. I confess, I think fb is the culprit. it would be good to go away from it for a while. maybe this summer I’ll let myself escape.
But if beauty is on offer, why not enjoy it?
We need to fill up so we can give to Peace. And Dawn is always a delightful reminder that Peace is possible.
Wishing you all a day of reflection and joy.
The soft quiet of a morning. Before the birds wake up; before you’re really awake. The world turns softly golden and your only responsibility is to drink it in.
“When I breathe in Love I breathe out Peace. When I breathe in Peace I breathe out Love.”
What a start to the morning. What an incredible way to set yourself up for the day.
And then, as the saying goes, begin as you mean to go on. Begin in Peace, continue.
Peace be with you, my friends. Every day.
And today? Is Mother’s Day. A happy day to all who celebrate. And commiseration and congratulations to those who have had to do this without the mother everyone deserves. It was her insufficiency. You are beloved and you did an amazing job without her.
Huh, as I write this I think, my friends celebrate the Sabbath from Friday night into Saturday. Technically, we celebrate from Saturday night into Sunday, although for each group if we grab a couple hours and put them aside we’re lucky.
But what if we thought of the weekends as holy? The whole thing. Treated them and ourselves with a bit of reverence? Offered ourselves a bit of respite, maybe even some learning. A bit of play? Some yard work… clean out a drawer… Something reflective…
Something as reflective as this river is reflective. Something as blue and gold and rose. Something as full of clarity as this fresh spring air.
Sabbath… For clergy it’s a working respite… which seems odd, but there you are nonetheless. I have to plan my morning carefully so that what i’m doing comes from a place of reflection.
Today, really is a working day for my community as we have our annual meeting and look at budgets and make plans for the year ahead of us.
Dawn’s gift is clarity and observation in some traditions… I’ll take that this morning, yes indeed I will… and hope for a day of sweet Peace… for us and for everyone. Love. Peace. Blessings.
Happy Pesach. Peaceful Sabbath. Beautiful Day.
I love those rosy dawns. And I’m forever indebted to Deb because she snaps so many of them — and I often sleep through them. I’m not sure when I became so much less of a morning person, but Deb transforms mornings for me at least on Sundays!
But this beauty gave us a different look at Dawn. The stripes on the River! That redbud tree!
That’s the thing isn’t it? The work of our lives, to keep looking at the same things, differently. To see how they change, to see differently. To see Beauty in something other than what you’d expected.
I believe there is all sorts of Peace lurking around in our lives and communities, we just have to find a way to tease it out. It’s easy enough to unleash the hate. We may have to work harder at Peace, but it is waiting… We are the ones Peace has been waiting for. Each and every one of us!
I used to be a person who could be up and out the door in 15 minutes. And that included a shower.
But life has changed. Or I’ve slowly grown into the person I am. Mornings are for writing and for slow approaches to the day.
Even on Sundays, my busiest out of the house work day (or at least that’s the theory, although whew!) I get up early enough so that there’s some staring into space time involved. Thanks to my weekly plans with my friend Emily, I can always count on Sunday evenings ending slowly and peacefully.
This is the day! I need a slow start to appreciate it. Just like the duck. Fly on, my brothers and sisters. I’ll just sit here and appreciate!
Whatever you do with this brilliant Sabbath morning, I hope there is Peace to be enjoyed and shared now and all day long!
