Rise and shine.

A few weeks ago, I looked up the old Sunday school song by the same name.  I haven't attended a Christian church in years and I certainly can't remember the last time I identified as a "Christian"in my spirituality. What I can remember though, is the smile that this song brought to me as a child; as it happens, it still has the same effect.  I woke up one morning, rested and happy - the kind of morning that belongs in a musical, where you wake up singing, arms shining out as you stretch up and belt out the chorus as the sun and plants crescendo with you! - and it was the first thought to pop into my head.  "Rise and shine and give god the glory, glory!"  Again, I haven't necessarily identified with the same image of God that these lyrics once represented, but it still translates.  The underlying energy, the source, the universal love - or if you like, "God" - does garner some appreciation upon awakening.  I wake up and am happy to be alive, appreciative of what lies ahead in a whole new day.  I think it's natural to want to send some gratitude back out into the great beyond for that happiness and potential.  It's not out of necessity nor is it compulsory, it just feels good.

Mornings, in general, feel good.  You're rested, replenished, and young - your day is new, and completely ahead of you.  I've always loved mornings, the earlier the better.  I especially love being up right as the night turns into day, that velvet shift where it feels like you're the only person in the world awake.   The whole world is mine, in that moment, calm and new, until everyone else starts to wake up.  If I manage to accomplish something in that time, it feels as though I've illuded time, tricking him out of an extra hour or two for myself.

This morning, we went to an early class at 6:30.  It goes without saying that it feels amazing to roll out of bed and onto a mat.  Like my whole body is singing "Rise and Shine."  Adding to that innate sense of sunrise appreciation, then, is a whole practice that always leaves my body feeling open, gracious, and blissful.  It's a tremendous way to start the day.

It is apparent, now, that I'm in the morning of a new day in my life.  In every moment, in every cell, in every breath, there is tremendous gratitude.  There is tremendous happiness in simple things and in the monumental things, too.  And, there is tremendous promise in what lies ahead.  It feels like I've been talking about all the new things for a long time.  But, as long as I continue to feel as though I'm finally awakening, it's still my morning, rising and shining and giving lots of glory, glory.