Spiritual Practice
Welcome the Day - A Prayer and a Practice
The summer solstice has passed, but the longest evenings and the latest sunsets of the year are happening now through early July in Seattle. This is the real herald of summer’s arrival in our often sun-starved city. Evidently, in the Northern Hemisphere, the latest sunsets come after the summer solstice because the day is more than 24 hours long this time of the year, writes Bruce McClure at the astronomical website EarthSky. Yep! a whole 15 seconds longer so that means the sunrise and sunset occur later. Conversely, people in the Southern Hemisphere are currently seeing the latest sunrises of the year, McClure writes.
Does 15 seconds really matter? No of course not, but for those of us who love the long summer days it is a real boost to know that these next couple of weeks actually give us a longer evening, something that encourages me to go out and savour the beauty of it each day.
Recently I created a new practice that gives me a much more significant boost for the day. It’s a new morning ritual I find refreshes and focuses me as I start the summer’s day.
While I wait for the kettle to boil and my first cup of tea to brew, I walk around the garden admiring the overnight growth of plants and slowly opening buds. And plants do grow overnight. Evidently during the day they take in, through photosynthesis, the nutrients they need for a burst of growth and then get to work over the night. A great reminder to me that when I go to bed at night God is still at work growing what was nourished during the previous day.
When I come inside I sit in my sacred space with my freshly brewed cup of tea in my hands. I take some deep breaths in and out and then recite this prayer which has become an anchor point for my day and an energizing boost to my morning. It was inspired by Pádraig Ó Team’s book Daily Prayer With the Corrymeela Community and a couple of the lines are adapted from one of his prayers. I deliberately use plural pronouns because it reminds me that I do not enter this day alone but as part of a community that both supports me and needs my encouragement.
God we welcome you into this day.
Three in One, One in three,
Creator, Christ, Spirit,
We welcome you into this day.
Where it shines light,
Let us walk in its brightness,
Reflecting the love, hope and kindness
It holds.
Where it hides in shadow,
Let us tend its wounds,
Bringing forgiveness, justice and compassion,
To its pain.
Open us to the unexpected.
Grant wisdom, peace and patience,
Through its sacred pauses.
Encourage us to embrace its possibilities,
Respond graciously to its disappointments,
Make room for unanticipated encounters.
God we welcome this day and all it holds.
We welcome those who are part of it.
May we extend a supporting hand,
A listening ear,
An open spirit.
We welcome your creation that surrounds us.
May we not harm its fragile beauty,
Or ignore your shimmering presence within it.
We welcome you into all its ordinary and hidden moments.
May we be fully present to their sacredness
And embrace your presence
In love, in joy, in hope.
Amen
This kind of practice can be done in 5-10 minutes but its impact on our day can be huge. Why don’t you take some time to create or revise your own morning ritual for the season ahead?
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