I went to a presentation by an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Navaholand and she mentioned the importance of going outside to greet the rising sun in Dine culture, and how well that fits with Morning Prayer.
That was beautiful, Almut. I began going to sleep early when I had radiation treatment last August. What that means is that I wake early...today it's 3:00 am but sometimes it's even earlier. I have big windows in this small cabin and an expansive view, so I get to watch sunrises on the regular. I am beyond grateful for this and also carry "survivor's guilt" as you mentioned. My one act of resistance so far (and it may not be so much resistance as it is survival) is that on November 6th I quit reading online news of any sort (except for some quick peaks as the fires raged across Los Angeles, my home for thirty years). I quit going on Facebook and Instagram, and I am restacking every note or Substack that focuses on Bishop Budde. Small steps but I hope to add more as I recover from the shock and awe of it all.
Thank you for sharing your acts of resistance, dear Linda. I think turning the news off is a good one, as much news these days has become noise. Also I think it is wonderful that you have such early mornings. I know some orders have their first morning prayer at 3 am. You could make it!
Kernpunkt meiner morgendlichen Tätigkeiten ist die Dankbarkeit für:
den guten Schlaf
den Platz und die Umgebung in der ich leben darf
die spürbare Lebenskraft in mir
den gesunden Geist in mir
Allerdings schaffe ich es nur in gesonderten Ausnahmen so früh aufzustehen, um den Sonnenaufgang sehen zu können
Nun gab es auch einen Sonnenaufgang für mich im August 2024 den ich besonders miterlebt habe, weil ich im Hochgebirge einer Steinmure ohne Schaden entgangen bin. Solche Erlebnisse zeigen immer wieder die Zerbrechlichkeit und Endlichkeit unseres Lebens.
Es grüßt Euch Bernd Herbek aus Deutschland
The core of my morning activities is gratitude for:
the good sleep
the place and the environment in which I am allowed to live
the noticeable vitality within me the healthy spirit within me
However, I only manage to get up early enough to see the sunrise in special exceptions
Now there was also a sunrise for me in August 2024 that I experienced in particular because I escaped a rock slide in the high mountains without any harm. Such experiences always show the fragility and finiteness of our lives. Greetings from Bernd Herbek from Germany
Vielen Dank, much thanks, lieber Herr Herbek, Sie haben so viel erlebt! I am glad you enjoy good sleep and a healthy spirit in a healthy body. Much to be grateful for, indeed 🙏
Almut, thank you for such a warm and heartfelt, reflective and call to action offering. I have often thought that illness slows us down to a point where our active brain disengages and the whispers of our souls are heard. Perhaps your soul’s whispers included forsaking the extra minutes of sleep to participate in a gentle awakening of the day. I’m glad you welcomed the new day in such a splendid way. In the past few weeks I talked with several friends about our role in the resistance to the onslaught of hatred, cruelty and greed. I have to admit we are a bit stymied . Then late this afternoon, a friend of mine posted an insightful answer to your query. He urges us to share stories. Don’t look to the media as unfortunately it has been bought and paid for. No one he states can control our stories. They cannot control our stories of life as a member of our LGBTQ or undocumented community, the mental health of our children, or how poverty is not just economic poverty, it creates poverty of the soul. Whatever we bear witness to. So, he continued, to the church basements we go, to the coffee hours or to small gatherings, especially with those who may not have voted like we did. We share stories and we listen. When we listen we have empathy.
That is one tall order I thought, but this is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. And we may not reach some, like the born again wacko who verbally assaulted you this past summer,but we will bridge the divide with others.
And as an aside, your exquisite description of making your morning coffee and how wonderful it tasted almost made me stop reading to brew a cup for myself!
O I loved to read your words, dear Kathleen, I am glad my brewing coffee invited you to do so also. Most often it is the little things which give us life and meaning, isn't it?
What the story does not tell is that as soon as I drank that coffee I felt off and went back to bed where I spent the rest of the week with that nasty sickness our whole family went through. Ha! At least I had a great sunrise and meditative coffee experience :-)
I also so loved your description about your conversation with your friend and the advise which came from it. I think telling stories is a beautiful way for going forward. As you say: "We share stories and we listen. When we listen we have empathy."
Almut, It appears I had the sequence of events mixed up. The misery of the cold came after the delight of dawn, coffee and reflects of gratitude while holding those in harm’s way in your heart. Glad to know you and the family are on the mend.❤️🩹
It is truly remarkable how much a sunrise can change perspective - and that they happen everyday! I usually catch mine in fleeting bursts while driving to work.
And as for the journals, that used to be me, until I started using very cheap, plain notebooks for morning pages. That has been a game changer and then I recycle them when I'm done so that I'm not precious about what I write!
Isn’t it amazing, sunrises happen every day! As do sunsets. And we often need a vacation to notice 😇😎 ( I hope you saw many beautiful sunsets !) Also, I am glad you let me in on the secret with the cheap notebooks, thank you, Christine 🙏
Beautiful. I ground myself the same way you did nearly every morning. It is an act of resistance to face each new day with beauty, connecting to the world outside, while acknowledging that in the moment I have peace, warmth, agency. Then, somehow it does help me feel secure in God’s providence of giving me yet another day.
If I had little ones at home, I’d not be able to have this daily ritual! Some rituals are practiced in the later seasons of life that would never happen except on rare occasion in earlier stages in life.
I’ve been saving your note to read till today as the weekend was quite busy. I so enjoy your reflections. I do watch sunrises when I can, or is it when I will it, and sunsets. The sky right before sunrise and sunset, what I would say twilight, is some of my favorite time, in between time, the waiting time, the hopeful time of what’s to come whether it be light or dark. It’s a
“both and” time. My Centering Prayer grounds me which I try to do twice daily. Sometimes I get caught up in the emails and the news. But I am trying to ignore it and resist. I’m trying to be more joyful in each day, with gratitude, by being kind and hopeful in conversations and everyday actions. At the grocery store yesterday I saw a gentleman just kind of staring at a rack in the aisle. A young girl in the cart with him and his wife was nearby, I saw what he might be staring at and I pointed that out, and we laughed together. I saw another friend go by with his cart at the end of the aisle, and I smiled and waved, and he backed up his cart and we chatted about how his wife was feeling and how work was going since the changes in government. And then I saw a woman with a sweatshirt where I recognized the event that she had obviously completed-A walk across the Mackinac Island Bridge on Labor Day. I stopped to chat with her and her husband because my husband and I also walked the Mackinac Island Bridge. Those are the kinds of things I’m trying to do. hugs to you and yours.
Cindy, your hugs are very much appreciated. Thank you also for your vivid description of your every day resistance. Living the moment is a powerful tool. And it creates community also. You have shown it with your lovely story. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you. I am a sunrise watcher and with so many sunrises I find the so many ‘gratitudes to begin a new day. I will be blessing others days with you beautiful blessing. 😍🙏❤️🙏🌅
Thank you, dear Almut. I can picture you in your quiet kitchen looking out at your garden in the sunrise. I read your blessed words sitting on the floor, just having had a cry because it's all so overwhelming and nothing I can do is ever enough, nor can be. Yet a dear.friend of mine, a Holocaust survivor, maintains that one person can make a difference. So I wrote a thank you to Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde. Her sermon& courage reminded me of Pastor Chistian Fuhrer at Nikolaikirche in Leipzig. You, too?
O dear Donna, thank you for sharing your deep feelings inside. I am amazed you would know Christian Führer! Astonishing. How so? And yes, I can see the parallels. But I was just thinking for myself: how come that I was much less despaired back then living in a regime where I was bullied and limited daily. I wonder if the fear of the unknown is often worse than the unknown itself.
Years ago (2006, I think) Jim & I were visiting his life-long closest friend (whose funeral was last week) & his wife. They lived in Bavaria very near the old border & we made an excursion to Weimar, Dresden, and Leipzig. Getting ready for the trip & loving Bach I looked up both the Thomaskirche and the Nicolaikirche & was delighted to find (as well as Bach) the story of the Peace Prayers & Pastor Fuhrer at the latter. So we made sure to visit & in those days they were giving tours explaining the resistance there. We were all really struck by that story & it has stayed with me. Jim was a long-time member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, so it was powerful for him too.
I went to a presentation by an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Navaholand and she mentioned the importance of going outside to greet the rising sun in Dine culture, and how well that fits with Morning Prayer.
That is so true. And I have a much easier time doing so when it is warm outside 😇
That was beautiful, Almut. I began going to sleep early when I had radiation treatment last August. What that means is that I wake early...today it's 3:00 am but sometimes it's even earlier. I have big windows in this small cabin and an expansive view, so I get to watch sunrises on the regular. I am beyond grateful for this and also carry "survivor's guilt" as you mentioned. My one act of resistance so far (and it may not be so much resistance as it is survival) is that on November 6th I quit reading online news of any sort (except for some quick peaks as the fires raged across Los Angeles, my home for thirty years). I quit going on Facebook and Instagram, and I am restacking every note or Substack that focuses on Bishop Budde. Small steps but I hope to add more as I recover from the shock and awe of it all.
Thank you for sharing your acts of resistance, dear Linda. I think turning the news off is a good one, as much news these days has become noise. Also I think it is wonderful that you have such early mornings. I know some orders have their first morning prayer at 3 am. You could make it!
I could!
Kernpunkt meiner morgendlichen Tätigkeiten ist die Dankbarkeit für:
den guten Schlaf
den Platz und die Umgebung in der ich leben darf
die spürbare Lebenskraft in mir
den gesunden Geist in mir
Allerdings schaffe ich es nur in gesonderten Ausnahmen so früh aufzustehen, um den Sonnenaufgang sehen zu können
Nun gab es auch einen Sonnenaufgang für mich im August 2024 den ich besonders miterlebt habe, weil ich im Hochgebirge einer Steinmure ohne Schaden entgangen bin. Solche Erlebnisse zeigen immer wieder die Zerbrechlichkeit und Endlichkeit unseres Lebens.
Es grüßt Euch Bernd Herbek aus Deutschland
The core of my morning activities is gratitude for:
the good sleep
the place and the environment in which I am allowed to live
the noticeable vitality within me the healthy spirit within me
However, I only manage to get up early enough to see the sunrise in special exceptions
Now there was also a sunrise for me in August 2024 that I experienced in particular because I escaped a rock slide in the high mountains without any harm. Such experiences always show the fragility and finiteness of our lives. Greetings from Bernd Herbek from Germany
Vielen Dank, much thanks, lieber Herr Herbek, Sie haben so viel erlebt! I am glad you enjoy good sleep and a healthy spirit in a healthy body. Much to be grateful for, indeed 🙏
Almut, thank you for such a warm and heartfelt, reflective and call to action offering. I have often thought that illness slows us down to a point where our active brain disengages and the whispers of our souls are heard. Perhaps your soul’s whispers included forsaking the extra minutes of sleep to participate in a gentle awakening of the day. I’m glad you welcomed the new day in such a splendid way. In the past few weeks I talked with several friends about our role in the resistance to the onslaught of hatred, cruelty and greed. I have to admit we are a bit stymied . Then late this afternoon, a friend of mine posted an insightful answer to your query. He urges us to share stories. Don’t look to the media as unfortunately it has been bought and paid for. No one he states can control our stories. They cannot control our stories of life as a member of our LGBTQ or undocumented community, the mental health of our children, or how poverty is not just economic poverty, it creates poverty of the soul. Whatever we bear witness to. So, he continued, to the church basements we go, to the coffee hours or to small gatherings, especially with those who may not have voted like we did. We share stories and we listen. When we listen we have empathy.
That is one tall order I thought, but this is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. And we may not reach some, like the born again wacko who verbally assaulted you this past summer,but we will bridge the divide with others.
And as an aside, your exquisite description of making your morning coffee and how wonderful it tasted almost made me stop reading to brew a cup for myself!
O I loved to read your words, dear Kathleen, I am glad my brewing coffee invited you to do so also. Most often it is the little things which give us life and meaning, isn't it?
What the story does not tell is that as soon as I drank that coffee I felt off and went back to bed where I spent the rest of the week with that nasty sickness our whole family went through. Ha! At least I had a great sunrise and meditative coffee experience :-)
I also so loved your description about your conversation with your friend and the advise which came from it. I think telling stories is a beautiful way for going forward. As you say: "We share stories and we listen. When we listen we have empathy."
Lovely. Thank you.
Almut, It appears I had the sequence of events mixed up. The misery of the cold came after the delight of dawn, coffee and reflects of gratitude while holding those in harm’s way in your heart. Glad to know you and the family are on the mend.❤️🩹
It is truly remarkable how much a sunrise can change perspective - and that they happen everyday! I usually catch mine in fleeting bursts while driving to work.
And as for the journals, that used to be me, until I started using very cheap, plain notebooks for morning pages. That has been a game changer and then I recycle them when I'm done so that I'm not precious about what I write!
Isn’t it amazing, sunrises happen every day! As do sunsets. And we often need a vacation to notice 😇😎 ( I hope you saw many beautiful sunsets !) Also, I am glad you let me in on the secret with the cheap notebooks, thank you, Christine 🙏
Beautiful. I ground myself the same way you did nearly every morning. It is an act of resistance to face each new day with beauty, connecting to the world outside, while acknowledging that in the moment I have peace, warmth, agency. Then, somehow it does help me feel secure in God’s providence of giving me yet another day.
Thank you, Sally, for sharing your morning ritual. I miss not having it daily. I might just have to get up before every one else every day 😇
If I had little ones at home, I’d not be able to have this daily ritual! Some rituals are practiced in the later seasons of life that would never happen except on rare occasion in earlier stages in life.
Yes, that is true. But I always feel better when I manage to have that sacred moment in the morning, so I keep trying 😇
I’ve been saving your note to read till today as the weekend was quite busy. I so enjoy your reflections. I do watch sunrises when I can, or is it when I will it, and sunsets. The sky right before sunrise and sunset, what I would say twilight, is some of my favorite time, in between time, the waiting time, the hopeful time of what’s to come whether it be light or dark. It’s a
“both and” time. My Centering Prayer grounds me which I try to do twice daily. Sometimes I get caught up in the emails and the news. But I am trying to ignore it and resist. I’m trying to be more joyful in each day, with gratitude, by being kind and hopeful in conversations and everyday actions. At the grocery store yesterday I saw a gentleman just kind of staring at a rack in the aisle. A young girl in the cart with him and his wife was nearby, I saw what he might be staring at and I pointed that out, and we laughed together. I saw another friend go by with his cart at the end of the aisle, and I smiled and waved, and he backed up his cart and we chatted about how his wife was feeling and how work was going since the changes in government. And then I saw a woman with a sweatshirt where I recognized the event that she had obviously completed-A walk across the Mackinac Island Bridge on Labor Day. I stopped to chat with her and her husband because my husband and I also walked the Mackinac Island Bridge. Those are the kinds of things I’m trying to do. hugs to you and yours.
Cindy, your hugs are very much appreciated. Thank you also for your vivid description of your every day resistance. Living the moment is a powerful tool. And it creates community also. You have shown it with your lovely story. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you. I am a sunrise watcher and with so many sunrises I find the so many ‘gratitudes to begin a new day. I will be blessing others days with you beautiful blessing. 😍🙏❤️🙏🌅
Thank you, Gayla. I am glad we share our love for sunrise.
Thank you, dear Almut. I can picture you in your quiet kitchen looking out at your garden in the sunrise. I read your blessed words sitting on the floor, just having had a cry because it's all so overwhelming and nothing I can do is ever enough, nor can be. Yet a dear.friend of mine, a Holocaust survivor, maintains that one person can make a difference. So I wrote a thank you to Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde. Her sermon& courage reminded me of Pastor Chistian Fuhrer at Nikolaikirche in Leipzig. You, too?
O dear Donna, thank you for sharing your deep feelings inside. I am amazed you would know Christian Führer! Astonishing. How so? And yes, I can see the parallels. But I was just thinking for myself: how come that I was much less despaired back then living in a regime where I was bullied and limited daily. I wonder if the fear of the unknown is often worse than the unknown itself.
Years ago (2006, I think) Jim & I were visiting his life-long closest friend (whose funeral was last week) & his wife. They lived in Bavaria very near the old border & we made an excursion to Weimar, Dresden, and Leipzig. Getting ready for the trip & loving Bach I looked up both the Thomaskirche and the Nicolaikirche & was delighted to find (as well as Bach) the story of the Peace Prayers & Pastor Fuhrer at the latter. So we made sure to visit & in those days they were giving tours explaining the resistance there. We were all really struck by that story & it has stayed with me. Jim was a long-time member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, so it was powerful for him too.
So powerful, indeed. What a story. Thank you so much for sharing it, it makes me long for home some more.