Early Morning

I am up early this morning, a common occurrence since I started working nights. The ever so faint glimmer of light in the sky drew me outside to sit on the bench on the patio and watch the morning come.

Such stillness at that time. The only sounds being those made by the ventilation systems of nearby buildings and the sound of water being forced through the apartment complex irrigation system.

In my white cotton nightgown, I wrapped a soft woolen shawl around my shoulders and sat watching the sky lighten imperceptibly moment by moment. Until a faint gray haze of cloud could be seen, then gradually, a hint of palest pink that turned apricot as the first rays of the sun kissed it.

A deep breath and I can smell the damp earth, the faint scent of pine in the air, the damp smell of summer worn grasses.

A lean stray cat wanders by, pricking his ears at sounds I cannot hear. As I sit silent and still, he passes by, unaware of my presence.

As the light grows, the shapes of trees, previously dark umber blue shadows in the night take shape and shift color to blue greens.

Out of the dark, a hummingbird startles me, buzzing to the feeder over my head, then having drunk his fill, flies to a nearby branch and sits for a moment, a small gray spot on the end of a branch, until suddenly, he is back again.

The first birdsong of morning ~ a lonely trill in the trees on the hillside above. The short bark of a fox. The call of a raven and then another as they fly overhead, dark shapes against a pewter blue sky.

In the Celtic tradition of Christianity, I sit, open to the stillness of God and sense his handiwork in all that is around me. And he is there. Peace, deep and endless, soothing and reassuring is there too. It fills me up.

Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

And the lord was not in the earthquake or the wind or the fire, but in the small still voice he came. (1 Kings 19:11, 12 ~ my paraphrase)

He didn’t come in grand visions, with big prophecies or earth shattering revelations. But in that stillness, He said, I am here. I always am, all you have to do is stop and pay attention, for I am with you always (Matthew 28:20). And I am comforted, soothed, reassured.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, my savior, have mercy on me.

And he did.