It wasn’t until I was in the ordination process and repeating it week after week that I finally and suddenly recognized my mother’s familiar, “Rise and shine!” as the Canticle for Morning Prayer on a Wednesday, coined not by a working woman but by the prophet, Isaiah, whose oracle has ever since elevated the memory of my mother’s theme song into something sublime.
Arise, shine; today is as good a time as any other.
Scripture truly is like living water: just as you can’t step into the same river twice, scripture also rolls through our lives and refreshes it in unexpected ways.
“Open my lips, O Lord, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.” These words strike a note to begin a fresh new day. They become a reminder, a way to approach challenging relationships, a lens through which to see day-to-day life.
Even when sitting alone at my desk to pray my prayers in the morning, I am never alone.