What resurrects you?
We all have to start our day. (I assume that your morning involves some version of rising.) That daily start may be panicky or slow. Some of us spring out of bed while others drag regretfully. Sometimes I wonder if we are actually resurrected, recovered each morning.
My physical morning routine establishes a real sense of being alive, and I identify it as my 4 Cs: coffee, cats, comfort, and calendar.
Coffee. The taste of coffee is so lovely to me (though your sensory choice may be tea or juice). What joy it is to receive God’s good gifts of nourishment! (Okay, it’s arguable that coffee is nourishing, but you get the idea.)
Cats. Once it was my children, and yours may be dogs. But these two affectionate felines need my presence, my care. I choose gratitude for their gentle, awakening insistence, which is always rewarded with tenderness.
Comfort. I need to sit for a little while in quiet, seeing the sunrise, absorbing the word of God. Since some of you have to be up and out in the dark, I hope you are able to create other times of comfort. Your pattern of restoration might be achieved in a gentle ending of the day or in a midday retreat from the pressing needs around you.
Calendar. What is in front of me today? What has God prepared for me? What requires prayer for myself, for others?
Yesterday is completed, and some elements “died.” Today is new, given by God. When I place myself in His day, I discover a renewed energy, a new view away from what I faced yesterday. I feel awakened and available to be His instrument of peace.