When
I wake a little after five, I realize today’s the day. It’s been too long since
I got myself to the lake early enough to see a sunrise in all its splendor.
I
dress quickly and hustle my way out the door and up the hill. The clouds,
awaiting my arrival, have layered themselves perfectly. They stretch now across
the sky, companionably close without crowding one another. I know this dawn
will be spectacular. I am not disappointed.
The
colors! No simple pinks and oranges here. No, these colors require more
evocative language. Indigo, plum, fuchsia, lavender. Cerise, rose, a streak of
carmine. Salmon, coral, apricot. All shifting, blending, and morphing their way
east to west above me.
What
is it about a sunrise that moves me so? Certainly there is beauty, but I can
catch such colors on the other side of day, after the sun slips behind the
mountains. But a sunset, no matter how stunning, is quieter, an ethereal
suggestion to turn inward. Sunrise invites a different response.
Light
bursting out of darkness excites. All is reborn, a brilliance emanating from
the snug womb of night. It is as
though each morning returns us to the season of spring. All is new, fresh.
Possibilities abound, and we are urged to open to them.
During
this early morning walk, I vow to do exactly that. Both my parents are now
gone, my father recently so. And despite the loss, it feels like dawn, the dawn
of a new era in my life. A clean start.
Who
knows where this time will carry me~~or where any of us will be by nightfall on
this very day? Everything awaits: joys and sorrows, events pleasant or not,
unknowns longing to be experienced.
Many
spiritual traditions tell us our task is to greet whatever comes with openness
and a heart~felt “Yes!” My bird friends model this for me now as I turn toward
home. Their voices have risen with the fiery sun into a joyous cacophony of
“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
In
the last few minutes, daylight has chased the vivid colors from the sky,
leaving in their wake a cerulean blue dotted with white clouds of various
shapes. But as I look closer, I see that labeling them “white” misses the mark,
as there are subtle variations here as well. Cream. Ivory. Swirls of pearls. A
hint of peach.
My
eye is snagged by one particular formation. A few moments ago, it was part of
an elongated cloud, but a strong westerly wind has set it free. It is snow
white and cup~shaped, open end facing the day’s first rays. A celestial goblet,
dipping into sunlight, scooping dawn.
That’s
it! I have scooped dawn. It fills me, spills over my edges, and gives rise
to this morning’s prayer...
May all our cups be filled. And may we raise them high with a resounding “Yes!” as Light overflows.
May all our cups be filled. And may we raise them high with a resounding “Yes!” as Light overflows.
Namaste,
my friends!
Loanne Marie
