"I can rise and shine, just not at the same time." FB quote, unknown

“Good Morning” one bright eyed sister chirped to me with a big smile as she met me on the way to prayer one morning. Still trying to wake up, I nodded my head in response…the most I could do at that time of the day. I don’t know what it is, but no matter how hard I try, I can never make it to bed before a very late hour. This would not be much of an issue except that our community prays at 7 a.m.! Now, don’t get me wrong, I love our Liturgy of the Hours, but 7 a.m. comes too quickly for me. During Lent I tried extra hard to get up early so that I could be at prayer at 6:45 a.m. instead of rushing in at 6:57 a.m. or later. This was quite a challenge for me, but on most mornings I did succeed. I do have to say it was a good feeling to be ready to chant or recite our psalms when the bell rang promptly at 7 a.m., than trying to figure out what song we were going to sing and what pages we would recite from. But mornings are still a challenge for me. It amazes me when many of our sisters say they get up at 4 or 5 a.m. I just can’t see it. But then again, most of them are gone to bed when I am getting my second wind at 9 or 10 in the evening. Most sisters laugh when I tell them I was working out at 9 p.m. or just starting a movie at 10 p.m.

And the funny thing is, have you ever noticed that if you wake up and it is 6 a.m. and you close your eyes for “5 minutes” it is 7:45 a.m., but if you are at a meeting, school or work and it’s 1:30, close your eyes for 5 minutes and it is 1:31? Well, that’s the way it goes for me anyway.

While mornings are a bane for me, I am always grateful for the day when I get up. I remind myself I am here to sing praise to God with my sisters and that is my incentive to get up each morning when I want to stay in bed. And until we move our morning prayer to 10 a.m., I will continue to find ways to make mornings a more joyful time for me.  Who knows, my next blog may be inspired by me waking up at 4 a.m. with the larks. Until then, I will keep tending to the owls. 

Submitted by S. Tammy Shoemaker