July 2: "Why I Wake Early," Early Riser, Sun Worship

Mary Oliver is a morning person . . . 

Why I Wake Early

by:  Mary Oliver

Hello, sun in my face.

Hello, you who make the morning

and spread it over the fields

and into the faces of the tulips

and the nodding morning glories,

and into the windows of, even, the

miserable and the crotchety--

best preacher that ever was,

dear star, that just happens

to be where you are in the universe

to keep us from ever-darkness,

to ease us with warm touching, 

to hold us in the great hands of light--

good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day

in happiness, in kindness

I've been an early riser since elementary school, mostly out of necessity.  In my younger days, I got up early for classes.  Then I got up early for work.  (I had a job for almost 20 years that got me out of bed at around 4:30 a.m. every weekday.)  Now, I do sleep in a little bit.  Instead of 4:30 a.m., I usually rise around 6:15 a.m.  That's almost two additional hours of slumber.  

I wish I could make the same claims as Oliver about waking early to greet the sun and tulips and nodding morning glories.  I can't.  Except for a few hungover mornings as a teenager and college student, I have never been able to sleep much past 9:00 a.m., but not because I'm a sunrise chaser or morning writer like Oliver.  Nope.  I can't sleep in because my brain has this annoying habit of reminding me about all of my daily responsibilities and worries as soon as I open my eyes every morning.  Perhaps all my years of holding down two/three/four/five jobs at the same time have a little to do with this.

Today is Sunday.  Most people, including God in the Old Testament, believe in resting on the Sabbath.  If memory serves, in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus and his disciples get hungry on the Sabbath, so they pluck some grain, rub it in their palms, and eat the kernels.  The Pharisees accuse them of threshing on the Sabbath.  So even Jesus worked instead of resting.  (He also healed people on the Sabbath.  Jesus was kind of a badass.)

I don't usually rest on weekends.  This weekend, between yesterday and tomorrow evening, I will have played five church services at five different churches (two Catholic, three Lutheran).  On weekends like this, I need to go back to work just to get some rest.

I like what I do.  I like working for the library and teaching for the university and playing music at all the churches.  But I would be lying if I didn't admit that I envy Mary Oliver's mornings.  I would love to roll our of bed for a little morning sun worship.  To be eased into the day with warm touching, held in those great hands of light.  That sounds pretty amazing to me. 

When Saint Marty wins the Nobel Prize in Literature, meet him in his his backyard at daybreak.  Bring your cup of coffee.  Don't talk.  Just stand there and be happy and kind.