Thought for the day from Mother LaRae I love the early morning stillness which comes right before the dawn. It is a moment in which there is a certain amount of hopefulness and anxiety about the coming of the light. So fitting for this Christmas season. With every promise of new life comes the anxiety if what that new life will mean. We change with every day. A new thought, a new friend, a new ache, a possibility and/or a new loss. All part of the process of becoming who we are desiring to be. Yet, this change in our physical being often means that we come to a crossroad in which we must choose to embrace the dawn or go back to bed and wait for the safety of the known quantity. We want life to be safe, secure and dependable. We live under the illusion that we can create this kind of environment, but we can’t. Risk is part of living. I’ve known so many people, and have been guilty myself, who say to themselves or others: if only we had (fill in the blank) money, a different job, a better church, family, house….. I’ve found that what those wishes represent is a desire to be somewhere else than where we are and be someone we have always wanted to be, but have been afraid to jump off the cliff into the unknown. Perhaps we have that inner knowledge and drawing to something different but worry it will endanger what we have, already. It is not really about the ‘things’ that we wish for, but for the sense of adventure and renewal of what is meaningful. Years ago I trained myself to stop using the phrase ‘when we retire’ or ‘when I have the time.’ I have buried so many people waiting for the moment that never came, that I have tried to do the things I need to do and with the people important to me when I can. What my spiritual life has taught me is that God is always present, but, sometimes we fail to show up for our own life. The Christmas/ Epiphany season is a time that I reflect upon what might be possible. I have a sense of imagining what the new day will look like and how I might respond differently to make our world, our church, our family, our work a better place. In order to do this I must be the one willing to move, change perspectives and continue to grow. I came across this poem in a book. It is so beautiful. Salutation to the Dawn Kalidasa Look to this day! For it is life The very life of life In its brief course Lie all the varities and realities of your existence. The bliss of growth The bliss of action The splendour of achievemaent. For yesterday is but a dream And tomorrow is only a vision, And today well lived, Makes yesterday a dream of Happiness And every tomorrow a vision of Hope. Look well,therefore,to this Day Such is the Salutation to the DawnLook to this day!For it is life, the very life of life,In its brief courseLie all the verities and realities of your existence: The bliss of growth,The glory of action,The splendor of beauty,For yesterday is but a dreamAnd tomorrow only a vision,But today well lived makes every yesterdaya dream of happinessAnd every tomorrow a vision
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 12:55:39 +0000