DISCOVERING THE MYSTERY OF DAWN
(Photo by Ardis Mayo, taken from Cadillac Mt. in Maine)
“Always we begin again,” profound words from one of the Desert Fathers that reside in my ‘random access memory’ and appear many times throughout the day.
It may be one reason why I find the dawn to be such a sacred time.
The Universe is always “beginning again,” no matter how dark the night. regardless of the tumult of the previous day.
Even when I find myself standing amid a pile of failures and mess-ups, there is always dawn. And the wisdom of the words “Always we begin again.”
Here are a few things to ponder, and hopefully entice you to become a disciple of the Dawn.
THE DAWN BRINGS LIGHT INTO DARKNESS
We all know that sunrise illuminates the world on a rotating basis and we welcome it on behalf of creation for its gifts to budding trees and greening of the earth.
Some people reach into the early morning light to invite light to enter the darkness in their souls.
We all have this darkness.
Places where we harbor confusion and dwell on negative thinking.
Little pools of hurts and desires that we nurture as if they were gifts from the gods.
And actions in thought, word, or deed that we are guilty of.
DEALING WITH DARK PLACES
(Photo by William-Topa on Unsplash)
My grandfather had a dirt basement under his crumbling farmhouse. There was very little light down there, and let me tell you, it was pretty darn scary.
Cobwebs, the scurry of little critters, a bat flying through and, oh…the smells! Rotten potatoes mixed with aging apples. Eieuww.
I clung to my flashlight as if it were a sacred object, and left as soon as possible.
I do the same thing when I think about the darkness within my heart.
The tiny light I happen to hold with my mind seems insufficient to explore all the nooks and crannies.
To eliminate all the possibilities of harm, I resist spending a lot of time in dark places. My heart included.
However, when Dawn comes early each morning, I can let go of the little ways I found to navigate in the dark and throw open the doors of my heart to welcome the brilliance of a new day.
No flashlight or glimmer of illumination from my mind rivals the splendor of the Dawn.
DAWN AND THE MYSTERY OF A DEWDROP
Have you ever seen droplets of nighttime collect on blades of grass in the early morning?
Each drop of moisture acts as a magnifying glass, enlarging a minuscule piece of new growth from the night.
Neuroscientists explain how everything we have experienced throughout the previous day gets integrated as we sleep.
When we first awaken, we have bits and pieces of dreams, memories, and intentions all clinging to our neurons like moisture on a blade of grass. (Photo by Leigh-Cooper on Unsplash)
When the light hits them, they evaporate, but they don’t disappear. They get absorbed into our created world, satisfying thirsts we may not be aware we have. The Mystery of a dewdrop!
DAWN AND THE SOUND OF MUSIC
There is a chorus one can only hear in the early morning.
Perhaps the birds are rehearsing for their singular performances later in the day, but when the sun begins to emerge from the night, they all chirp to welcome the new day like one big choir.
They pass around the lead part, from swallow to bluebird, to a trio of finches.
There is usually a crow who never made the audition, so he stands nearby, letting his voice declare his discontent. (Photo by Joshua-J-Cotten on Unsplash)
In the few moments between the silence of the night and the start-up of trucks and cars on the distant highway, the avian world comes together in harmony and praise for a new day.
THE CHILL OF DAWN
(Photo by Matthew-Henry on Unsplash)
Even when summer days are in full swing, there can be a chill just before dawn that makes us quiver a bit without a sweater or a cup of steaming hot coffee.
Some folks can’t start their day without the latter. I am one to step into a hot shower to start my day.
Others pull a robe tightly around themselves to go out to fetch the morning paper from the front steps.
We each have our rituals to move from dark to light, from chill to warmth, from sleep to wakefulness.
However, there is another coolness that we awaken to each morning.
It is the cold of a changing world, the dread of an unknown future, the chill of painful memories that didn’t seem to sleep at all through the night.
CHOOSING TO SLEEP IN
For some, it is enough to hunker down under the covers for a few more hours until the sun is a lot higher in the sky.
They are willing to trade the Mystery of the incoming Light with its bird chorale and miracle dewdrops for temporal pleasures of a soft pillow and warm blankets.
Can you feel my bias? I absolutely hold no ill will if you are a nite owl who savors early morning snoozing. Perhaps you will write to tell me what I miss by getting up early.
Let me tell you what greeting the dawn with open eyes and heart means to me. When I have been in darkness, either from my mess-ups or from global crises, greeting the rising sun gives me Hope. A Hope that cannot be uprooted. I look out into the ‘Thin Place’ between night and day and experience something too profound for words. The moment is sacred. The experience is brief. The power of possibility in a new day fills me with awe and inspiration. And then I hear the birds. I watch the dew evaporate in the warming sun. And I know that Dawn is the reason I will live one more day with thanksgiving and joy, regardless of circumstances.
( I wrote this poem quite a while ago about the experience of sleeping too late to see the sunrise. Check it out before you leave.)
So I wonder, do you clutch a tiny light in dark places and shiver in the silent cold? Or do you rise metaphorically, if not literally, to greet the dawn with great anticipation to “begin again” each new day? Write your answer in the comment below.
