Wednesday Morning Meditations

 

I open my eyes to the soft, pale light of winter’s lovely pastel palette

All is quiet

it’s just before dawn

There’s a sense of calm in the air

but also, of anticipation

Something wonderful is about to happen

Yes, a brand new day

filled with promise

I slide out from beneath my warm blankets, clothed only in dawn’s soft glow

Finding my robe, I gaze out the window

at snow covered branches bathed in the gentle hues of morning

In front of that window, is a sleeping kitty curled up in a chair

So sweet and cozy, I resist the urge to wake her with my show of affection

With pen in hand and coffee nearby, I write

and I wait

not actually waiting

My mind is empty, not thinking, just being, just absorbing and savoring all that this present moment offers 

Multiple moments tick by, but I hardly notice the lapse of time

Soon I hear the quiet stirrings of loved ones awakening

Increasing light pours in through my window, although the sun still hasn’t quite yet risen over the horizon 

Pastels gradually give way to an orange glow

sorbet colored clouds hang in a sort of suspended animation, slowed by the cold winter air

Floorboards creek in the next room 

and increasing traffic sounds outside mingle with the sound of cartoons playing downstairs

The day has indeed begun

As the sun now explodes over the horizon bathing all the world in its golden light

I’m filled with deep gratitude

 

That I don’t have to hurry off to work today  😉

 

© Julie Rehnelt 2018

 

Sorry I don’t have a photo to share with this one, I was too ‘busy’ just being.  Plus, there isn’t any frost on my windows this morning ~ apparently a windchill of minus 8 isn’t cold enough.  😉  I suppose I could have snapped a photo of my sleeping kitty, I haven’t shared any of her lately.  Maybe next time…

 

Well thanks for reading.  Happy Wednesday and keep warm ~ or cool, depending on the weather wherever you are today…

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Listen

 

In the quietness of the early morning

before all the other humans arise and start making noise

I listen

 

To the sounds of nature

 

I hear the wind as it whispers through the leaves on the trees

I hear birds singing somewhere off in the distance, merrily proclaiming the dawning of this new day.

I watch as the emerging sunlight plays along with the wind

in making the leaves of the trees dance

their bright reflections of green, sparkling joyfully

With no audience to observe their lovely spectacle, aside from me

and the birds.

It’s mesmerizing.

As their shadows flicker upon the walls of my room, my cat joins in

amusing in her observation

my sweet kitty.

 

Joy.

Contentment.

 

Breathing it all in

I listen

 

To what is not heard by human ears

 

A different frequency, one of the Spirit

an awareness of something deeper

a profound connection

with all living things

with my Creator.

 

The whole earth is filled with His glory

And rejoicing, I worship

 

I want to stay in this moment

to linger in this wonderful sense of awareness

But time marches on as time tends to do, and the humans begin to arise

I hear stirring in the next room, increasing traffic driving by outside, the jingling of dog tags as someone passes below my window while out for a morning stroll with their dog

All of them completely unaware of the elation I’m experiencing in this sacred moment so near to their proximity.

Pondering that breaks my concentration

 

I want to share this wonderment with them

help those ‘noisy’ fellow humans realize

to be aware

and enter in

Such love

 

Not sure of exactly how to go about that

I sip my coffee

and listen some more…

 

© Julie Rehnelt 2015

~

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

As Evening Sets In

 

 With the horizon all aglow

as the last golden rays of the sun paint the sky

I breathe

saying a silent farewell to this day

All the joys and sorrows melding into one

a calm awareness fills me with peace

as evening sets in

 

© Julie Rehnelt 2015

~

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Sunday Meditations

I awoke this morning feeling very unsettled.  Almost instantly, my mind began swimming around in the thick murky waters of worry and dread.  This doesn’t happen too often, but when it does, it hits me like a ton of bricks.

As I went through the motions of my regular waking routine – put coffee on, feed cats etc., I could feel my thoughts going over to the ‘dark side of the force,’ churning and mulling over all of the ‘what if’ scenarios of calamity and destruction.  Like I said, this doesn’t happen very often, I normally wake up feeling quite peaceful and content, so that was a bit alarming to me too because it made me wonder if maybe I was psychically picking up on some real and actual impending doom – I’m forever over-spiritualizing everything.  But then rationality kicked in and I was able to calm myself.

I took a deep breath, poured my coffee, and headed back into my bedroom for my other ‘regular waking routine.’  I don’t know if I’ve shared this here before, but every morning shortly after I wake up, I spend about an hour in prayer and meditation.  The first thing I do is light an incense match, and as it burns, I speak only of all of the things that I am thankful for.  Then I take it one step further and write down one of those things in a special journal I have.  And I meditate on that one thing, breathing in and out, allowing that full sense of gratitude to wash over me.  Then I spend some time just looking out the window, watching the sun come up while I’m sipping on my coffee.  Then I pray, and listen.  I also spend time reading out of a little daily devotional book entitled “Jesus Calling,” it’s sooooo good, and it sets me exactly right every time.  Interestingly, I happened to read the wrong day’s meditation today, but it was so spot on with what was happening with my thoughts earlier this morning, the first sentence said… “Trust and thankfulness will get you safely through this day…”  The thankfulness part is no problem, but sometimes I struggle a bit with the trust part.

What was happening with my thoughts when I first awoke was that I was worrying about the future.  Something had happened the night before that frightened me a bit, and I was getting all up in my head about all of the potential ‘what ifs’ of the future.  Look out, it’s a trap!  Staying in the present moment is so key, and I know this, I practice this, but I still find myself going around and around in my head about things sometimes.  The reason it’s so key for me to stay in the present moment is because that is where I find, well, sooo many things, but here today it’s where I find the ‘trust’ part – when I focus on the present moment, I see that all is well.  All. Truly. Is. Well.  So I don’t need to worry.  And tomorrow… well, tomorrow isn’t come yet.  “Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.”

All I have to worry about is today, right now, this moment, and in this moment, I’m okay.

This is what I wrote in my gratitude journal this morning…

 

Today I am thankful for this present moment…

for the deep dark blue color that the sky is right now in this moment, and how beautiful it looks against the bare branches of my tree

for the rich flavor of my coffee

the warmth of the candle that is lit next to me, and its soothing light

for the sound of crows I can hear faintly cawing somewhere off in the distance

and the aroma of the incense I just burned a moment ago.

I’m thankful that in this present moment all is well

I am sheltered

I am fed

I am clothed

all of my five senses are functioning properly

and I am well.

In this present moment

and in the moments that have just passed as I wrote these words

I have everything I need

and so much more.

I have peace.

 

© Julie Rehnelt 2015

 

And I have pretty frost on my windows.

Again.

🙂

 

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿