How to Greet the Morning: A Guided Reflection Using Pádraig Ó Tuama’s In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World
Daily Nourishment Read Time: 40 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 15 minutes
“Hello to you all, I say, as the sun rises…” ― Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World
Pause.
Let’s begin with a breath prayer using words from the Prompt below:
Inhale: I make friends with the habit of listening
Exhale.
Inhale: I greet God in my own disorder.
Exhale.
Inhale: I greet my untold stories, my unfolding story.
Exhale.
Prompt.
Read the words below from Pádraig Ó Tuama’s In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World:
“Neither I nor the poets I love found the keys to the kingdom of prayer and we cannot force god to stumble over us where we sit. But I know that it's a good idea to sit anyway. So every morning I sit, I kneel, waiting, making friends with the habit of listening, hoping that I'm being listened to. There, I greet God in my own disorder. I say hello to my chaos, my unmade decisions, my unmade bed, my desire and my trouble. I say hello to distraction and privilege, I greet the day and I greet my beloved and bewildering Jesus. I recognize and greet my burdens, my luck, my controlled and uncontrollable story. I greet my untold stories, my unfolding story, my unloved body, my own love, my own body. I greet the things I think will happen and I say hello to everything I do not know about the day. I greet my own small world and I hope that I can meet the bigger world someday. I greet my story and hope that I can forget my story during the day, and hope that I can hear some stories, and greet some surprising stories during the long day ahead. I greet God, and I greet the God who is more God than the God I greet. Hello to you all, I say, as the sun rises above the chimneys of North Belfast. Hello.”
― Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World
Practice.
Set a timer for 10 minutes and greet your morning (or your afternoon or evening). Write greetings to what you see, feel, hear. Write greetings to what you wait for. Write a greeting to God, to yourself, to your place.
Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.
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