When Morning Gilds the Sky
Read: UMH #185
When I retired 1 ½ years ago I made some resolutions to give my new “free time” some focus – get some exercise, don’t eat too much, clean some part of the house every day (I haven’t kept that one up!), read the newspaper on the day it comes (l love that one), be more patient with my family and others, don’t get excited over the little snafus in life, hang with friends more, sing in the church choir, etc, etc - but the main resolution which I have truly enjoyed is to take time to see the beauty around me.
For example, last fall I taught an early morning class at a campus which was new to me so I was not familiar with the layout of the campus and buildings, especially the building I was going to teach in. The first morning I arrived really early (did I say that I am Type A?) – before the sun was up in fact – and I walked into my classroom to settle things in. I opened the blinds and got ready for class when I realized that the window in my classroom faced east and the sun was beginning to rise. What a treat that was for me.
So every week after that I looked forward to the sunrise as a wonderful perk to start the day. I actually mentioned it to some of the folks who work in the same building but in fact they didn’t get to work early enough to see what I saw every week. (This semester I am teaching a couple of noon classes so miss out on my sunrises and that’s a shame. I just don’t seem to be at the right place at the right time.)
There is no question that before I retired, my work consumed me and I loved just about every minute of my job . I’m thinking though I have missed a few sunrises so I am trying to make up for lost time.
One of my mother’s favorite hymns sums it up for me:
“When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries, may Jesus Christ be praised.”
Vivian Anderson
Read: UMH #185
When I retired 1 ½ years ago I made some resolutions to give my new “free time” some focus – get some exercise, don’t eat too much, clean some part of the house every day (I haven’t kept that one up!), read the newspaper on the day it comes (l love that one), be more patient with my family and others, don’t get excited over the little snafus in life, hang with friends more, sing in the church choir, etc, etc - but the main resolution which I have truly enjoyed is to take time to see the beauty around me.
For example, last fall I taught an early morning class at a campus which was new to me so I was not familiar with the layout of the campus and buildings, especially the building I was going to teach in. The first morning I arrived really early (did I say that I am Type A?) – before the sun was up in fact – and I walked into my classroom to settle things in. I opened the blinds and got ready for class when I realized that the window in my classroom faced east and the sun was beginning to rise. What a treat that was for me.
So every week after that I looked forward to the sunrise as a wonderful perk to start the day. I actually mentioned it to some of the folks who work in the same building but in fact they didn’t get to work early enough to see what I saw every week. (This semester I am teaching a couple of noon classes so miss out on my sunrises and that’s a shame. I just don’t seem to be at the right place at the right time.)
There is no question that before I retired, my work consumed me and I loved just about every minute of my job . I’m thinking though I have missed a few sunrises so I am trying to make up for lost time.
One of my mother’s favorite hymns sums it up for me:
“When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries, may Jesus Christ be praised.”
Vivian Anderson
No comments:
Post a Comment