One thing I love about the shape of my days is that I get several new beginnings sandwiched in between dawn and dark.
My habit of napping – begun of necessity during the years of (constant??) pregnancy – has stayed with me as a mini-Sabbath that is a priceless gift. From it, I emerge newly begun every afternoon. The Divine Office is a dip into a pool of deep refreshment three times a day: Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer.
It may seem strange to think of Night as a new beginning, but it’s a wonderfully quiet, still, relaxed phase for one whose mind can let go of today and tomorrow by way of the night office. Sleep (young moms may have forgotten what a full night’s sleep is, but even a partial sleep is heavenly!) is a vital time of brain-reorganization and integration that takes advantage of your incapacity to act, in order that you may be acted upon.
Great ideas and creative solutions to problems are often born during a restful night, and God sometimes touches the sleeping soul with healing, or guidance. Sleep is not a waste of time!
Beyond all these new beginnings, a day full of ‘life’s challenges’ can be a sort of obstacle course in which I discover that God’s mercies are not just ‘new every morning,’ but in every moment.
It can be nice to start the day and experience it as one whole, smooth thing from morning to night. But if your days are much rougher, with lots of challenges and obstacles, do focus on all the fresh starts such a day provides!
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