Mornings

Beginning Monday morning and continuing Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, I awakened to sunshine and bright blue, clear skies. I was immediately and profoundly thankful for being part of God’s creation. It reminded me of my favorite little book of prayer and meditation. In his book of prayers, Celtic Benedictions: Morning and Night Prayer,[1] J. Philip Newell, preserves for us the beautiful, Celtic tradition of daily prayer and Celtic spirituality. As Newell describes in the Preface, the Celtic tradition firmly embeds our essence in creation and in the image of God. In this tradition, the belief in the essential goodness and beauty of creation is front and center. Newell describes creation in this tradition as a blessing and an expression of God’s presence always in our world.

I share with you the prayer for Monday mornings:

For the morning light

and its irresistible dawning,

for your untameable utterances of life

in boundless stretches of space

and the strength of the waves of sea

I give you thanks, O God.

Release in me the power of your Spirit

that my soul may be free

and my spirit strong.

Release in me the freedom of your Spirit

that I may be bridled by nothing but love

that I may be bridled only by love.[2]

In my sense of joy and energy that praying this prayer gives me, I remembered another inspiration for my celebration of the beauty and love that God expresses in this world of God’s creation. I found myself singing it to my sheep when I fed them in the mornings this week. (Yes, real sheep not figurative sheep!) I always liked the original Cat Steven’s production of “Morning Has Broken,” a beloved hymn that praises creation and the joy of the mornings we have as creatures of God. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5sSEkZ86ts

I end with praise and thanksgiving for the joy and love I experience in God’s magnificent creation and in our fellow creatures.

 

[1] Newell, J. Philip, Celtic Benedictions: Morning and Evening Prayer, (William B. Erdsmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, MI, 2000).

[2] Ibid, 14.