A Summer Morning

Photo by Sarah
JUNE

The robins and blackbirds awoke me at dawn
Out in the wet orchard, beyond the green lawn,

For there they were holding a grand jubilee,
And no one had wakened to hear it but me.

The sweet honeysuckles were sprinkled with dew;
There were hundreds of spider-webs wet with it too,

And pussy-cat, out by the lilacs, I saw
Was stopping and shaking the drops from her paw.

I dressed in the silence as still as a mouse,
And groped down the stairway and out of the house.

There, dim in the dawning, the garden paths lay,
Where yesterday evening we shouted at play.

By the borders of box-wood, and under the trees
There was nothing astir but the birds and the bees.

And if all the world had been made just for me,
I thought, what a wonderful thing that would be.

``K. Pyle

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Summer mornings are among the greatest joys of this earth experience. When all the household is sleeping and it is just oneself that is astir, it is possible to fully appreciate the brilliance of early morning sunshine, the warmth of summer breezes and the glorious chirping of birds eager to greet the day. Don't let this moment pass you by. It is a gift. Standing out on one's porch, stretching the night stiffness from one's body, pondering Life and God, or thinking nothing at all in particular, is a revelation. Just to breathe and be still.

In our haste, we forget to drink deeply from the day. And yet I find that if I stop for awhile the gratitude that is suppose to be felt fills my heart quite readily. Gratitude brings joy, no matter how difficult our present challenges.

May we stop to feel the mornings is my prayer, for one beautiful morning can light the whole rest of our day well on into the night.

Elizabeth