I woke up this morning at first light as the dawn edged around the curtains and daylight crept into my house from the high windows in the living room that run down the whole side of the house. The light reaches all the way across to the hallway outside my bedroom. At this time of the year I also still have a few of the shades up a little from the summer pattern of letting air in although the windows are now locked down for the coming winter.
The words, "Morning has broken like the first morning" sang in my head as I watched the light grow stronger and I thought "what a nice way to wake up." For years I have had the luxury of waking with the light rather than to the sound of an alarm, but this is the first time in many months that my mind has turned to the words of this song/hymn.
First a hymn, it became a popular song in the seventies sung by Cat Stevens. I looked for the words on the net and found that I had long been conflating the first and last verses, so that what I was singing in my head was, "Morning has broken like the first morning.....God's recreation of the new day."
I loved the song and was surprised, some years after its time on the charts, to see the verses included in the Liturgy of the Hours. That is when I discovered that it is a hymn. God's recreation (re-creation) of the new day is an image I have been fond of ever since. This morning as I waited for the light to fill my house so that I could rise without needing to turn on a light, I pondered its meaning. I should have written this post immediately, because much of what I was thinking has been dissipated by the cares of the day--fighting with a bad Internet connection that is making life miserable, washing dishes and paperwork.
Still the gist of what I was thinking was on the relationship of recreation to re-creation. Prayer, worship, sharing meals with others, gardening, laughter and making things with our hands and minds seems to me to be in the nature of re-creation. We use ourselves in the ways that the Creator intended and are connected to Creation, completing a cycle each day so that we may rest and begin anew the next day.
Recreation, on the other hand, the passive entertainment that passes for recreation in our overly technological world, disconnects us from ourselves, from our true purpose in life, from meaning and of course, ultimately from our Creator. It may contribute to keeping us from resting and from being productive in truly human ways.
As I looked for a link on the Internet to the text for Morning Has Broken--which I found here http://www.events-in-music.com/morning-has-broken.html --I discovered that there is a Christmas carol set to the same tune. It can be found here http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/h/childman.htm
.
It is a carol that I hope to come back to as Christmas arrives. The tune it seems is Celtic.
I wish you true recreation--re-creating--tomorrow and the next day and the days hereafter and good rest this night.
I am grateful for that light this morning and for the thoughts it gave me as well as the beautiful day that it gave me as well. I will be even more grateful if and when my DSL finally works as it is supposed to!
Showing posts with label light. Show all posts
Showing posts with label light. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today is the second Sunday in Ordinary time. It is a gray, dreary day with a break in the rain. Very ordinary for this time of year.
The first reading is from Is 8:23-9:3 and contains the texts, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light," and "You have brought them abundant joy." I love the concept of abundant joy. Not just joy, not just a smidgen or modicum of joy, but abundant joy. It has a wildness to it, an overflowing quality to it. Moments of joy are rare in most lives, but here we have plenty of joy, joy everlasting. Can we stand it? Once we have known it can we go on without it?
The responsorial psalm is Ps 27:1-4, 13-14 and contains the texts, "The Lord is my light and my salvation", and "One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek: To dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life". The first text about light and salvation amplifies the line from Isaiah. Dwelling in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives is our joy; this we seek. To make our hearts ready and to make them a dwelling place for God all our lives. To make our homes places of peace, kindness and security that all who enter may experience the light of Lord, the blessing of faith, a taste of abundant joy, which is salvation. Harmony and kindness need to enter into our daily lives that the Lord may dwell in us and with us and through us. There can never be too much kindness, too much courtesy and they are like abundant joy, overflowing in our lives Kindness and courtesy are catalysts too so that the light which is in us never goes out and the Lord may reach out through us to others who need to be brought into the light of salvation.
The second reading is from 1 Cor 1:10-13, 17 and contains the texts, "that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose". This unity is necessary perhaps if the light is to continue to shine and joy be maintained but is it a practical possibility when no two minds are alike? We are not being asked to give up our minds, but to bend our wills--kindness and courtesy again will help to keep divisions from growing. When I first read these words this morning I could not help but think of the growing fracas in our political parties which we call the electoral process! (But that would be a different post.)
Finally the Gospel is from Mt 4:12-23 and tells the story of the calling of Peter and Andrew, James and John to be disciples. Jesus says, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." He then begins his public ministry teaching, preaching and curing those who are sick or maimed. Teaching and preaching we still recognize in our ministries, but it is harder to find healing, although the charism of healing still exists.
So it is an ordinary Sunday with some extraordinary ideas. WE are called to be the people of light, to follow the Lord in that light in ordinary as well as extraordinary ways and one of those ways includes the power to heal--to cure illness and to heal divisions. Words for our time as we ponder a Presidential race that will open health care to all or continue to keep some people out; that will continue to base our economic life on the principle of scarcity or that could become a light in the darkness finding a new foundation in abundance for all.
I truly believe that we need to think deeply about some of these things; to see that our religious and spiritual lives are not divided from our economic activities or our
political choices. Ethics, morals and faith must inform our choices and we need to have a national debate not about whether this candidate can beat that candidate in the primary, but what it means and what we want it to mean. We are called to be the people of light in all areas of our lives. Can we shine light on the darkness of our economic uncertainty and our political future? Let us try.
The first reading is from Is 8:23-9:3 and contains the texts, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light," and "You have brought them abundant joy." I love the concept of abundant joy. Not just joy, not just a smidgen or modicum of joy, but abundant joy. It has a wildness to it, an overflowing quality to it. Moments of joy are rare in most lives, but here we have plenty of joy, joy everlasting. Can we stand it? Once we have known it can we go on without it?
The responsorial psalm is Ps 27:1-4, 13-14 and contains the texts, "The Lord is my light and my salvation", and "One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek: To dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life". The first text about light and salvation amplifies the line from Isaiah. Dwelling in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives is our joy; this we seek. To make our hearts ready and to make them a dwelling place for God all our lives. To make our homes places of peace, kindness and security that all who enter may experience the light of Lord, the blessing of faith, a taste of abundant joy, which is salvation. Harmony and kindness need to enter into our daily lives that the Lord may dwell in us and with us and through us. There can never be too much kindness, too much courtesy and they are like abundant joy, overflowing in our lives Kindness and courtesy are catalysts too so that the light which is in us never goes out and the Lord may reach out through us to others who need to be brought into the light of salvation.
The second reading is from 1 Cor 1:10-13, 17 and contains the texts, "that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose". This unity is necessary perhaps if the light is to continue to shine and joy be maintained but is it a practical possibility when no two minds are alike? We are not being asked to give up our minds, but to bend our wills--kindness and courtesy again will help to keep divisions from growing. When I first read these words this morning I could not help but think of the growing fracas in our political parties which we call the electoral process! (But that would be a different post.)
Finally the Gospel is from Mt 4:12-23 and tells the story of the calling of Peter and Andrew, James and John to be disciples. Jesus says, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." He then begins his public ministry teaching, preaching and curing those who are sick or maimed. Teaching and preaching we still recognize in our ministries, but it is harder to find healing, although the charism of healing still exists.
So it is an ordinary Sunday with some extraordinary ideas. WE are called to be the people of light, to follow the Lord in that light in ordinary as well as extraordinary ways and one of those ways includes the power to heal--to cure illness and to heal divisions. Words for our time as we ponder a Presidential race that will open health care to all or continue to keep some people out; that will continue to base our economic life on the principle of scarcity or that could become a light in the darkness finding a new foundation in abundance for all.
I truly believe that we need to think deeply about some of these things; to see that our religious and spiritual lives are not divided from our economic activities or our
political choices. Ethics, morals and faith must inform our choices and we need to have a national debate not about whether this candidate can beat that candidate in the primary, but what it means and what we want it to mean. We are called to be the people of light in all areas of our lives. Can we shine light on the darkness of our economic uncertainty and our political future? Let us try.
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