"O Lord, In the morning will I direct my prayers unto Thee and will look up."
A recurring theme in my blog is how much I enjoy my morning coffee and hot tub time. Mornings are my recharge and detox time. It's always been that way. I'll do pretty much whatever anyone asks of me all day, but give me my morning.
This morning is no exception. It is special and unique in that today is our first freeze, which means saying good-bye to the flowers and the flies. It's a cold crisp morning, which makes the hot tub hotter, and the coffee that much more satisfying. This morning is indeed a great morning.
But this morning is not unique in its greatness or its uniqueness. There have been some four billion mornings, and morning is happening somewhere on the planet all the time. Morning is more than 'this morning', or even the sum total of all of the mornings combined. Morning, since the first morning, is an ongoing, never ceasing, always changing, constant.
Morning is not unique to the earth. Every planet in every solar system experiences morning at all times. Morning is so much more than this morning it is hard to grasp the scope of Morning. But it is so easy and wonderful to enjoy this morning.
Maybe understanding the distinction (and similarity) between Morning and This Morning can help us understand the relationship between this physical, temporal world and the eternal world that God calls us to be a part of. There's some really heady, deep stuff in thinking along these lines, and some of it I'm quite sure cannot be encapsulated into words.
But somehow, we're supposed to learn to appreciate This Morning in the context of Morning, and vise versa. We're supposed to live in this world, knowing that our true citizenship is in a world as distinct from this one as Morning is from This Morning. And at the same time, we are to experience this world, just as we experience This Morning, fully participating in and enjoying each and every image or taste of the world to come.
And the wisdom in all of this is to learn to live our Best Life, here and now, starting This Morning. Making quality decisions, developing solid relationships, contributing and creating good in the world around us, and encouraging each other to embrace and appreciate This Morning because of its relationship to Morning and this day because of its relationship to eternity.
I am so thankful for Morning, and This Morning in particular. It just can't help but be a great day!