Meditations For The Seasons Of The Day

It has long been the practice of Pantheists to celebrate the changing of the seasons of the year at the Spring and Autumn equinoxes and the Summer and Winter solstices. But each day also has the corresponding seasons of dawn and sunset, noon and midnight, which evoke varying moods, and prompt us to rejoice in the good things of life, or to meditate on our place in the Universe and how to conduct our lives.

The source of the themes outlined here is from the book, "The Music of Silence", by David Steindl-Rast, a Dominican monk. The author recommends that we should consciously respond to the real rhythms of the day, and not be swept along by the demands of the clock, by external agendas, and by mere reactions to whatever happens. This involves devoting a few minutes at different times of the day to stop and reflect. - Tor Myrvang , Rome, Italy

AT dawn we celebrate the coming of light.

WE feel renewed after a night's sleep, and receive the new day as a gift, full of opportunities.

DO we have eyes to open to the morning light? Do we have ears to listen to the sounds, and feet to walk and lungs to breathe? What gifts!

WE delight in the freshness and beauty of the new day, the dew glistening on just-opened flowers, the sun shining through the trees.

THE appropriate response is spontaneous praise of the divine unity for the fact of life itself. We prepare for the coming day with a feeling of renewal and purity.

WE are ready for a new start, "we cast away the works of darkness and put upon us the armor of light".

WE receive the day as a gift, so the appropriate response is to be generous with our time and our compassion with our fellow beings.

ANYTHING we do to communicate that we really care about one another helps. It creates a sense of belonging, a sense that we are sisters and brothers in this home of ours, which is the whole world.

WE should prepare for our work with conscious clarity, and keep in mind that as long as we do our work out of love for those whom we love, we do it for a good reason, and that our work, if we do it well will help the whole human enterprise, that we are all working together with others whom we will never see.

IF we do all this we can make the world a
little brighter.

TIME to rise and shine!

AT high noon, the sun stands at its apex. But although this is the time of the full blazing of the sun, like a blaring trumpet, it is also a time of great silence. Even the birds are silent; often you only hear the buzzing of the bees and the drone of the flies.

IT is the hour of temptation to laziness and despair, an hour of crisis. At this turning point in time we decide the fate of our day, and cumulatively the fate of our lives.

DO we renew our fervour and commitment, or do we succumb to temptation?

WE must summon the courage to stay the course, to remain true to our ideals through the rest of the day.

IN the bright light of day our shortcomings are exposed, we should review them, and endeavour to overcome them.

WE must align ourselves with the harmony and peacefulness of this hour of the day. To the extent that we attune ourselves to the flow of life, our lives can become peaceful in an alienated and torn world.

IF we take something to eat at this time, even if one is on one's own and the meal is very simple, we should eat with care and awareness, remembering that we are in communion with all.

EATING is always a communion, a celebration with all those who have laboured to bring us this food, with all those creatures who have lived and died to give us this food, and with all others who eat on earth.

BY the time evening descends, we have finished our daily work, and as the lamps are lit, we can enjoy this hour of peace and serenity.

THE time just after sunset has a magical quality. In the evening light, trees and figures are silhouetted against the sky. The world seems perfectly framed, intensely beautiful.

SOMETIMES, after the sun has set, the clouds begin to glow with colours of water and colours of fire. Buildings and mountains also glow, and the sun is reflected like molten gold in the windows of faraway houses.

IT is a wonderful time to take a walk in a garden, when flowers unlock their fragrance. As daylight fades, we notice the sounds of crickets and frogs, and little white moths fly up from the grass.

THE garden teaches us each day that life is a round of gestation, birth, growth, flowering, fruitbearing, fading, dying, and gestation again in the dark of winter.

WE let go of the day with all its "sturm und drang", achievements and disappointments, and allow our spirit to be refreshed in the quiet beauty of the evening.

IT is a good time to heal whatever rift we feel between ourselves and others and from the ground of being. We should forgive those who have offended us, and seek to effect a reconciliation.

THE way that we can actively bring the spirit of this hour into everyday life is to light whatever lights we can in this dark world. "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness". What candles can we light? A smile, a kind word, a visit?

WE move closer together when it is dark. The hour is a call to neighbourliness and caring for our family and friends.

Looking up at the night sky we are reminded of the immense mystery in which we are immersed.

Darkness is a symbol and image for the divine mystery. Everyday reality, the world of things we learn to manage is inherently finite, bounded, lit up, and delimited. But darkness holds everything, including you and me. We feel at home in this immensity of which we are also a part.

The rhythm of the day parallels the rhythm of our life, and midnight brings us thoughts of the end of life itself. Death and impermanence are part of life.

TO acknowledge that each day comes to a close, that each life comes to a close, is to hear the challenge to rise to the occasion and make something of this day, this life.

WE fear death most when we feel that we haven't lived yet. We're frightened that death will come like a thief in the night before we've really had a chance to live. We missed it and now, all of a sudden, it's over.

THE more fully we live, the easier it is to let go, to die.

LIKE the darkness around us, there is darkness in the hidden recesses of our soul. Dark thoughts rise up out of the silence, and we seek the strength to ward them off.

WE confront this inner darkness by examining our conscience, asking ourselves "What went wrong today? Where did I fail to meet the challenge?" We should resolve to do better tomorrow.

WE return to our spiritual womb to be reborn again next morning, as above us the silent stars go by. We entrust ourselves to the night as if it were a deep ocean containing the promise of rest and the chance of marvellous dreams.

WE have arrived at the Great Silence, the bridge of silence between midnight and daybreak, when the crowing of the cock will inaugurate the cycle of the seasons of the day anew.