Perhaps it would be a good idea, fantastic as it sounds, to muffle every telephone, stop every motor and halt activity for an hour someday to give people a change to ponder for a few minutes on what it is all about, why they are living and what they really want.
- James Truslow Adams
Is there anything better than Sunday afternoon in the three-day weekend? Perhaps there is an hour to ponder about life, to think about what you really want and to prioritize.
Even organization books call on you to list your top priorities and then evaluate your schedule against them. So what does the day look like if your top priority is to be conscious of the presence of God moment by moment? It involves staying in the moment, step by step. But without handrails, my steps would soon go off course.
The intention to stay on course was undoubtedly the inspiration for the Liturgy of the Hours and other forms of monastic scheduling. I have adapted some of the ideas behind this to help me stay on course.
It starts in the morning. When I awake, I do reach out to the Lord and remind myself that "This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." I wake early because we do 20 to 30 minutes of centering prayer followed by reading aloud from both the Old and New Testaments. I pray over my schedule and take a moment to write a sentence or two in my prayer journal. On days when we are able, I prepare a tranquil breakfast with love and we share it.
The day begins.
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