Morning Prayer usually has a, well, a morning feel to it. Its Psalms are full of sunrises, praise, and desire for God. Today ( Monday week IV) we start with with Psalm 90. This is the psalm for someone who stayed up too late Sunday night, woke up feeling wretched, and has tried to start praying before that first cup of coffee.
You try to start off acknowledging the Lord's majesty and might: You have been our refuge...before the mountains were born...or the world brought forth, you are God, without beginning or end.
But on a bad Monday morning, it all seems so very bleak. It is easy to be an existentialist on Monday morning. You turn men back to dust...you sweep men away like a dream, like grass which springs up in the morning...by evening it withers and fades...all our days pass away in your anger. Our life is over like a sigh...our span is 70 years, or 80 for those who are strong...and most of these are emptiness and pain.
Pretty harsh. True, but harsh. Fits right in with the Monday morning mood of us Non-morning persons. And don't get me started on how the election cycle is shaping up. Bleah.
Better drink down that coffee quickly. You need all the help you can get. Show pity to your servants. In the morning, fill us with your love. Give us joy to balance our affliction. Fill us with your kindness.
Pause. Look out the window. Must admit, the sunrise is beautiful. The caffeine is starting to work. (both coffee and the sunrise are gifts from God.) Okay. I'm ready. Praise, praise, praise!
That feels a little better.
Then the reading: We should be grateful to the Lord for putting us to the test as He did our Fathers. Yep, this tiny little test of being faithful to prayer even I'm tired and cranky. At this rate I'll never be ready for martyrdom. But it's a start.
