The Miracle of the Morning

When I remember You on my bed,
         I meditate on You in the night watches.
Because You have been my help,
         Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
My soul follows close behind You;
         Your right hand upholds me. 

Today’s Reading: Psalms 63-65; Romans 6

Recently I changed my sleep schedule so that I went to sleep earlier and wake up earlier. It was a challenge because historically I have always been a night owl. Even when I was a young child I would stay up entirely too late watching TV or just sitting in bed with my thoughts.

Looking back on those times and thinking about myself now, I realize that much of that time was spent meditating and I didn’t even know it. The solitude of the night allows for a certain level of intimate privacy that just cannot be found in the day. The day is filled with noise of chores and errands and the stresses of what needs to be done. Days are filled with work and time spent with loved ones. I’ve always relished the privacy of the night. I was free to spend uninterrupted hours letting my mind wander wherever it wanted to go. My soul was free to grow.

I don’t much like the idea of giving that up.

But I decided to change my schedule because it will help me be more effective with my time. You know how the old saying goes: “the early bird gets the worm”. Many of the most successful people are successful because they start their day before everyone else. I thought I’d give it a try.

So this week I have done just that. I’ve woken up before the sun for the past five days and something amazing happened. I found it even easier to meditate in the morning than I did at night. I still found myself in the still of darkness, but there was a key difference. Instead of my mind running a mile a minute with all of the stresses and worries of the day, it was refreshed and renewed from plenty of hours of sleep. Whatever running it needed to do was completed during the night. It was a new day with a cleaner slate.

I woke up already feeling connected to God.

If that wasn’t enough, I was able to witness a miracle every morning. I watched the sun rise. There is something very therapeutic about watching the sun rise. It is like watching God gently wake up the rest of the world. The sounds of crickets gradually change into the sounds of birds chirping. Soon afterwards the city rises. People begin their morning jogs, a few dogs bark their good mornings to their neighbors, and the rituals of the day start to stretch for their marathon runs throughout the day.

But before this begins, before the normal sets in with its dull drowning sound, I was able to see the miraculous hidden underneath it; and remember throughout the day that no matter what anyone says, miracles do happen every single day.