Dear friends,
One of the amazing features of life is how we surrender ourselves at night to the gift of sleep.
We close our eyes.
We allow our bodies to carry on their work through the night without the aid of any intervention on our part.
Such confidence we have.
And notice how at night there are no differences between us.
It's as if the darkness of the night has eliminated all those superficial distinctions.
The differences between the black and the white,
The good and the not so good,
The wise and the less gifted,
The differences between the beautiful and the plain.
The English songwriter Bill Caddick captures this surrender wonderfully in his song John Dreams.
The prince and the ploughman,
The slave and the free man,
All find their comfort in old John Dreams.
And so,
After the passage of some hours,
We all come to again,
Ready to receive the gift of a new day.
What a treasure this is,
And it calls for a prayerful and a reflective response.
Here is just one idea as to words we might use in gratitude for this gift,
A type of morning offering.
As I awaken to the light of this new day,
I am filled again with awe and wonder at the beauty of this world.
I feel a sense of amazement when I stop to consider the even greater wonder of my own existence.
As I wake again from sleep,
I give thanks for the gift of life and the experience of entering another day.
Once again,
I am offered the opportunity to experience life in all its richness.
May I walk through this day with heartfelt gratitude,
Noticing the magic of the world that surrounds me,
And seeing beauty in the people who share this life with me.
May I mindfully meet any challenges that may come my way in the next 24 hours.
Taking one day and each hour at a time,
May I always strive to live with kindness,
Compassion and love.
In the busyness of life,
May I never forget to feel gratitude for the miracle of my own existence.
May my actions be a worthy response to the awe and wonder I feel at the dawn of this new day.
Namaste
