MEDITATION: Here I am

Think about what you think about when your day first starts. More time asleep. Coffee. Food. Phone. TV. The excitement (or dread or drudgery) of another day. Your needs, problems, desires, grudges, hopes, fears. Do you see how crowded a day becomes before a day gets good and started? Who knows how many spirits and sensations will check in before the day has called it quits?

This is why so many of the church mothers and fathers through the ages have counseled us to set aside daily "quiet time." Not to give us one more item to add to a to-do list but to put our lists in perspective. Some say early morning. Some midnight. Some find a way to spend lunchtime that way in the middle of a busy work shift. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed" (Mark 1:35). If he needed it, what of you and me?