Week of 3 Epiphany, Year One
[Go to Mission St Clare for an online version of the Daily Office including today’s scripture readings.]
Today’s Readings for the Daily Office:
Psalms 40, 54 (morning) // 51 (evening)
Isaiah 50:1-11
Galatians 3:15-22
Mark 6:47-56
In her book “Illuminated Life,” Joan Chittister writes that “One of the most difficult, but most seasoning, elements of life is simply the fine art of getting up every morning, of doing what must be done . . . To face the elements of the day and keep on going takes a peculiar kind of courage.” The spiritual life is lived from day to day, morning by morning.
Who woke you up this morning? In today’s first reading, the prophet Isaiah is awakened by God himself. God wakes the prophet up not by opening his eyes, but by opening his ears. As the prophet writes, “Morning by morning he wakens–wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.”
Imagine God stirring us awake each day. Imagine God opening our senses, starting with our ears, so that we can listen for God’s voice, for all the day’s wisdom. That’s a lot different than waking up to a blaring alarm clock!
Maybe your day is already underway, but perhaps you can find a moment to pause and let God truly awaken you. And perhaps, as an exercise, we can try to make God our first waking thought in the days to come as we take life day by day, morning by morning.
Lora Walsh blogs about taking risks and seeking grace at A Daily Scandal. She serves as curate of Grace Episcopal Church in Siloam Springs and as director of the Ark Fellows, an Episcopal Service Corps program sponsored by St. Paul’s in Fayetteville, Arkansas.