Today’s scripture: PSALM 145: 1-9

¹   I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
²   Every day I will bless you,
and praise your name forever and ever.
³   Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.

⁴   One generation shall laud your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
⁵   On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
⁶   The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,
and I will declare your greatness.
⁷   They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

⁸   The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹   The Lord is good to all,

          and his compassion is over all that he has made. 

 Growing up, I was known as being “perky” in the morning.  In fact, my dad would often wonder out loud about why was I so perky.  I have always been much more of a morning kind of person.  But when I was younger it was almost annoying as I understand it.  I was just so excited to get going in the morning! When I spent the night at friend’s houses, they got to the point of telling me when I got up in the morning how much activity I could do to not disturb them because I loved getting up by 7am at the latest and start my day.  I remember at least one time my friend Casey laid out towels so I could go shower and put out a book I could read that I would like because she really wanted to sleep in.

Sometimes I got to wake my brothers up. There were techniques for this.  For Grant, you had to just wake him up and run (not a morning person).  For Andrew I could actually get away with running into his room, jumping on his bed and yelling “human blanket! human blanket!”  He would just look up, give me a hug and say wearily, “good morning sis.” For Colin, it took much more noise and movement and he still may not move out of bed.  My mom and dad had lovely techniques as well.  My mom would throw a cat on us to get us up or the blanket would go off quickly.  My dad might play the soundtrack to Phantom of the Opera so loudly the house would shake…that would surely get us up and moving.

But I would trundle downstairs smiley and good morningy and excited for the day. AND I came out of the door talking. I think that’s what really got my dad.   Monday mornings especially held possibility/  We had a whole week of possibility at school before us.  How could we not get up and moving?

I would like to think that I have calmed down as I age a bit and mornings get just a little bit harder to launch into. I definitely need my morning coffee to help with this process. But I do acknowledge that when I am up, I am up and running.  There really is no easing into the day.  And when I wake up I think to myself, “Ok God, here we are another day.  How will we move together today?” This small prayer helps me to arrange the day with God in mind before I check my email and my facebook and get writing on this blog.  The Psalmist seems to have the same idea.  This is a song of praise to God for the things God has done and the things God will do.  I get the sense of such possibility for us this Monday morning from this song.  The door is wide open and God is ready to mold with us and mold us to work in the world.

What does the morning look like for you? Will it hold possibility or will you trudge through to another day?

Prayer:  Anew every morning is your light, O God.  Breathe into us possibility and a readiness to move with you throughout our days, weeks, and months.  Amen.