Morning Ruach

I am a morning person, which means I already get up pretty early. However, I do not care for this change to Daylight Savings Time. I’d vote in a heartbeat to leave the “daylight” as it is and not try to manipulate our emotions into thinking we have more or less sunlight. But like everyone else, I must make the best of it. 

So this morning my alarm went off at it’s regular time; albeit an hour earlier than yesterday even though the clock numbers still read my normal rising. I made my coffee, turned on some low lit lamps and made my way to the place where I sit each morning: at a trestle table in my sunroom in front of four large windows that look out into my backyard. It is still very dark but this morning I can hear the beautiful semi-low pitched tune coming from my chimes that hang on the deck. Because of their tuning, I can sometimes hear Amazing Grace (okay, and sometimes Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer — according to the particular swing of the gong), but this morning it is just chiming randomly. I always smile to whatever musical melody is playing because I hear it as a personal love song from the Spirit Himself. 

And so I say, “Good morning,” as it would be rude not to do so. After all, in the Hebrew tradition the word for wind, ruach, was also the word used for “God.” 

Sitting down in front of the window, I cannot only hear the wind but I can make out a small contrast in the tall pine tree in the back of the yard swaying against the backdrop of a still darkened sky. Movement. The sign of life. Not wanting to rush beyond this moment of sensory holiness, I sit … and watch … and listen.

Prayer forms.

O Ruach of Creation, in the beginning You hovered above the wildly turbulent waters wooing the earth to rise out of the deep. You beckoned life of every source to be formed out of that earth. 

O Ruach of Life, You breathed into that very first moment, invigorating Your creation with energy. And over time, You breathed life into my body, my soul, my spirit, inviting me to be a part of your purpose and plan.

O Ruach of Whirlwinds, You bear me up in the storms of life, teaching me to trust You in the chaos that roars around me.

O Ruach of Presence, I cannot see You, but I know You are near as I experience Your rhythm and feel Your power; as I hear Your sometimes poignant and haunting music as it plays through Your creation and reaches places of loneliness within me.

O Ruach of Dance, you blow over the places that stifle me and keep me stuck, guiding me in the way You would have me move … a freedom known only by abandonment and by giving in to Your movement.

Blow O Ruach. May my sails billow wide. May I breathe deeply the gift of inspiration. May I be carried to the place of my resurrection. May I be fully free.

Indeed. Let it be.

An ordinary moment.