“I will sing and chant praise. Awake, my soul; awake, lyre and harp!
I will wake the dawn.” Psalm 57:8-9
This is a bold claim—to wake the dawn. As if the dawn would not get up by itself. As if it would not wake me.
How do I feel in the morning? Sometimes full of joy and looking forward to the day’s events; sometimes worried and concerned, often just tired. For some of us the dawn is a relief because we could not sleep well.
In order to wake the dawn, I have to be up before the dawn. I have to be awake before the sun even wakes me. It is bold because as humans, we are part of nature and mother sun is huge and powerful. To be ahead even of her is an amazing thing.
The Psalm seems to point directly to Jesus Christ. The women discovered His rising from the dead “as the day was dawning.” This discovery, the resurrection of the Lord, brought a new light to their life that changed everything. It was truly a dawn of a new life. But when they discovered the empty tomb and the angel sitting there, the Lord was already risen. That means He had risen before the dawn. It means He is greater than the sun and moon; he is even before the sun. He is the true sun. He is the true light.
When we get up very early in the morning, when we wake the dawn – with our praise, with our joy – we join the Lord. We can sense something of this new, everlasting, imperishable life. We are filled with joy because Jesus is even stronger than day and night, stronger than life and death. In Him all of this was created and finds its fulfillment.
Dear Lord, when I am tired and not motivated to wake up, let me think of you. You are ahead of me. You are ahead of this day, so I know that everything will be good. Let me be close to you. Let me be with you at the place where you have been even before all life was born. You give me a light and a life that cannot be destroyed, by no one and by nothing. Let my singing and chanting be an expression of this joy. Let me get up early. Let me wake the dawn.
Wilde Monk 
Wise words. Thank you, Fr. Mauritius. I am always waiting for your beautiful, wise and loving thoughts. They makes us think and meditate on the amazing “simple” things of life. Greetings with affection from Guatemala.
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Fr. ; always good to ponder your words of light & power. Also of real help for me is ” living one day or less at a time “. Seems my aggravations & worries etc. have mostly to do with the past or the future. Please send up prayers for me. Gratefully ; steve mitchel
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Your words inspired me – thank you:
I wake
Before the dawn
Because there is
No other silence
Like the silence
Before daylight
When all
Is asleep
And every day
Darkness
Blends soundlessly
Into light.
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Thanks, Fr. Mauritius, for inspiring early risers! I am reminded of this poem by Mary Oliver.
Why I Wake Early
Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety –
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light –
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
Mary Oliver
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Dawn light whispers in;
My soul reaches for Christ’s love;
The Son reveals grace.
Just offering a little haiku. Thanks for your thoughtful posts. Charlotte
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Ganz herzlichen Dank für die Gedanken, und gleich zwei aufeinander…. wie schön! Eine sternschnuppenreiche Nacht und ein österliches Erwachen morgen früh. Gesegnete Grüße nach Rom
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