Shining Spirit

I rise this morning from the comfort of my bed. I rise into the world of choices, experiences of responsibility and consequence. I stand surrounded by the anguishs of injustice, threats of power without accountability, challenges to my foundational beliefs about mercy and compassion. I stand in The Light that affirms goodness and fragile hope. And I do not stand alone. I see you there. I see you reaching for a hand of steadiness, listening for a word of encouragement, just like I do. And I see you in the moment you realize that you and I have become “we” and that this world is filled with people who struggle through the early morning unsteadiness into the stability of confidence.

I affirm you as one who brings beauty to this day, for whom truth is foundational to the day’s unfolding, one who, in the course of the day, will see and be fundamental goodness sharing itself with a confused and confrontational world. I acknowledge, with genuine gratitude, that I possess, in the gift of my humanity, the fullness of life meant to be enjoyed and shared in the bright lights of this new day. I also acknowledge that I am possessed by The Source whom I call God, the Mystery that gives my life meaning, the Unknowable whom I recognize in you and in others who walk with us through this bright and beautiful day.

I rise from the comfort of my bed into all this day offers and demands, for I walk knowing that you are at my side and that the collective “we” of humanity is capable of limitless goodness and unending hope. Let us smile together into the new day and walk together along the path of Goodness and Light. At the end of the day, may we all look back and see the lovely flowers of peace growing in the footprints we have left behind.

These things I affirm humbly and hopefully. May it be so. Amen.