Читать книгу LifeLines - Malcolm Doney - Страница 11

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Greet the day

Morning has broken Like the first morning, Blackbird has spoken Like the first bird. Praise for the singing, Praise for the morning, Praise for them springing fresh from the Word.

Sweet the rain’s new fall, Sunlit from heaven, Like the first dewfall on the first grass Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, Mine is the morning, Born of the one light Eden saw play; Praise with elation, Praise every morning, God’s recreation Of the new day.¹²

How many mornings will we get?

No one can tell.

The accident of birthplace has a say on the number of our days. But, roughly speaking, we might find the sun rising and peaking through our curtains about 26,000 times. We might lay down to rest 26,000 more.

At the end of it all, most of those days we will never remember. And a few we will never forget.

Nearly a century ago, the poet and children’s author Eleanor Farjeon wrote the words to a hymn which beautifully captured a sense of gratitude for a new day. She imagined the first morning in Eden, with Adam and Eve taking in the birdsong, the dew on the grass, the breaking light. Much later the hymn became a hit for Cat Stevens, who continued to perform it under his new name, Yusuf Islam, after he converted to Islam.

Whether we give God a name or whether we don’t, giving thanks is a good way to start the day.

What might happen on any given day? No one can tell. Every day is something of a surprise. All we can know for sure, as each new morning breaks, is that she is here again. She is ours.

‘Give thanks for her,’ says the cartoonist Michael Leunig, ‘as you make your way.’³