Early to Bed, Early to Rise!

Benedicamus Domino!

I have never been what you'd call a morning person. In fact, experience seems to bear out my conviction that I am, rather, a night-owl. I read, write and think at night when I really should be sleeping. This is not true of every night by any means, but it does seem to happen often.

The rub here is that I have always desired to be a morning person. I have always wished to wake up with the dawn and to greet the day head-on. There's something sacred about letting the night be used for its proper purpose and letting the day wake you up when it shows itself. Melanie, the folk-rock singer, wrote a song whose lyrics go something like this.

"Why sleep when the day has been called out by the sun
From the night 'cause the light's gonna shine on everyone
Why sleep when the sleep only closes up our eyes
Why sleep when we can watch the sun a-rise

We were meant to see the beginning of the day
I believe it was planned to lift us this way
Take you an apple and take you a song
And watch a baby day be born
Take you an apple and take you a song
Watch a baby day be born." (Melanie: Baby Day)

This is a good expression of my desire to be more in rhythm with my surroundings, and yet the next verse expresses how I often feel when I try to achieve this goal.

"Quite quite, said I that's all very well to say
But I rose before the dawn to your singing yesterday
I couldn't see the rising 'cause the dark was in my sky
I couldn't see the sun 'cause the sun was in my eye."

Yes. Whenever I do wake up early in the morning after a good night's sleep, something still manages to make me feel annoyed or sluggish or something. Even when I do what I desire, I myself am a barrier to the positive effects of waking up early.

This is a really good metaphor for the barriers we all erect between ourselves and the state of joy. Living a eucharistic life can help to break down those barriers, but too often, we let our transitory aches, pains, worries and fears overwhelm us, or at least I do. Add to this the passions to which we are all prey, and we have a lot to deal with.

However, changing this state of affairs can be as simple as changing one's attitude. Whether it be waking up early in the morning or rousing the soul from its slumber, all we often need is to look at things differently. In the case of the morning, I need to realize that the earlier I go to bed and the earlier I wake up, the longer I have to be productive in a day.

In the case of spiritual alertness, it is necessary to remember that life is brief, and God is there. God is there to free us from the barriers we erect for ourselves if we wish, but we must make the first step. We must actively try to change, and also ask for guidance and help.

This, in the last analysis, is what this journey toward joy is all about: learning to feel less entitled to things and more grateful, as well as learning to give more freely and to love without condition or reservation. Love is an active force. It tends to motivate others, and this is what the Christian is called to do. It is love, after all, that we are told ought to be our identifying mark, and this is what I am seeking to achieve, one early morning at a time.

Deo Gratias!