Good morning. Happy Monday. Happy busy, lots-to-do, didn’t-get-enough-done-this-weekend-or-enough-rest-either kind of morning. Welcome to another brief interval between sunrise and sunset. If you’re anything like me this morning, you could use a little perspective. A little reminder to be present, not to get too far ahead of yourself. A tidbit of encouragement and inspiration. A wake-up call, not to all the tasks and appointments that your day holds, but to the simple wonder and beauty of this day, this unrepeatable gift of a day. So I share with you this lovely short meditation, “A Good Day,” from Br. David Steindl-Rast. Get comfy, get your coffee or whatnot, take a deep breath, and receive the day.
…and if you don’t have five minutes to reflect (which itself might merit some reflection), here’s a tidbit in the form of Mary Oliver’s poem “Mindful,” from Why I Wake Early.
Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less
kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for –
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world –
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant –
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these –
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean’s shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?