Praying the Hours by Suzanne Guthrie

Author:Suzanne Guthrie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cowley Publications
Published: 2000-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

eight

Reading

The Hour of Lauds

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb. . . .

John 20:1

While it is still dark, Lady noses me into my study. I start my little coffee-maker, which sounds like a child slurping the remains of a bubbly ice cream float through a straw. In my study the uneasy remnants of my dreams dwindle and dissolve, and specters slide from me. The transparent images fade into the light. My mind is eager. My mind is hungrier than my body.

I am a cheerful riser. I think most clearly after the dreams have fallen away and before I remember everything I have to do this day and week. I am so grateful that I can read at this time because when my children were little I could not read in the mornings. If I so much as stirred from the bed, crises in multiples of four erupted upon me. For twenty-five years dawn has meant a crisis of homework, shoes, or permission slips; raging hunger, accidental breakage, or occasional vomiting—often mine. This is the first time in over two decades I do not have to drive children to school or the bus stop.

Patrick, the one child left at home, noisily brushes his teeth and braces, cooks his own breakfast, organizes his homework, and rarely forgets anything. All I have to do in the morning is check the neatness of his hair and make sure he does not wear his old ripped sweatshirt to school. Bill, having already jumped into his clothes, prefers to take care of himself and does not need to be fussed over. All I see of him this morning is a smile as he kisses me goodbye and rushes off.

And so, God gets this time—my best time of day! The hour of Lauds is praise for this very hour before dawn, and the theme is thanksgiving, gratitude for surviving the night, another chance to learn and to love. Lauds is praise for the coming dawn, which represents the creation of the world and the resurrection of Jesus. Christ is the morning star, and the sun is the glory of the Lord God. Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you (Isaiah 60:1).

To study and pray at the moment of creation, at the garden tomb of Jesus, creates a sense of sheer grace for me. While frenzied birds sing the dawn into being, I mold my body into my son Jack’s “favorite chair in all the world”: a slightly undersized, fuzzy brown rocker covered with a beige blanket and an old lace tablecloth. It is a mom-reading-to-kids or cuddling-kids-and-puppies kind of chair, big enough to curl up with my feet under me and small enough for my feet to touch the floor. And my gratitude is clearly enhanced by coffee.

The combination of the scent of coffee, the lamp switched on over the chair, and the unzipping of the Bible case signals Lady that it is the time for her daily bone.

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