Morning Song

Today, you made it out of the house with a shower and a mug of hot tea.  This is significant, because there are many days when your tea gets left on the counter or kitchen table, only to be remembered when you are too far down the road and too late to go back home.

Also, the dog was fed and walked. The cat box cleaned. The garbage taken to the end of the street in the rain.

Breakfast was made. Scrambled eggs with turmeric, the spice that supposedly helps brain function. What is not to like about that?  Cereal for the non-egg fans. Hot chocolate in to-go cups to warm up the blustery morning.

You cut fruit. And vegetables. These went into the lunch bags with sandwiches.

Dirty clothes were picked up off the floor and tossed in the clothes basket. A load of laundry was thrown in the washer, on time delay, so it will just be finished washing when you arrive home again.

You even made your bed.

The cat escaped, but was rescued and put back in the house, so he wouldn’t have to be resentful outside in the rain all day.

All this before 8am.

Even more? Everyone made it to where they were supposed to be, on time.

You were fabulous.

Except, now you are so tired that you just want to go back to bed. And all that you did?  It was preliminary stuff, a prelude to the day, the barest of beginnings.

It doesn’t even count, not really.

There is no prize given for successful completion of the morning routine.

Except, that desire for a prize? That’s the sneaky voice of Esteem piping up, the one that likes to be publicly recognized, lauded and adored.  The truth is that getting a prize wouldn’t make you happy anyway. Sure, it would feel nice, for a moment or two. But it’s not a long term mood booster. Remember what Fr  Keating says: you are made happy by God’s love and presence alone.

So stop for a minute. Take some deep breaths. Be grateful for the tea that made it into the car with you. And realize that the morning work matters, because the steady stream of breakfasts and lunches, laundry and pet care, trash removal and tea making is just another way to say love.  And even though you may not have recognized it at the time, God was there with you in every frantic moment, the quiet below the hurry, the singer, the song.