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Also by Hugh Prather
Shining Through
How to Live in the World and Still Be Happy
The Little Book of Letting Go
Standing on My Head
Notes to Myself
Spiritual Notes to Myself: Essential Wisdom for the 21st Century
I Will Never Leave You: How Couples Can Achieve the Power of Lasting Love
365 Meditations to Wake You Up
First published in 2005 by Conari Press,
an imprint of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
York Beach, ME
With offices at:
368 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02210
Copyright © 2005 Hugh Prather
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Prather, Hugh.
Morning notes : 365 meditations to wake you up / Hugh Prather.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57324-254-3
1. Self-realization—Religious aspects—Meditations.
2. Devotional calendars. I. Title.
BL624.2.P73 2005
158.1′28—dc22
2005014845
Typeset in Janson Text and Triplex Light by Marquardt Art/Design.
Printed in the United States
VG
12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences — Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials z39.48-1992 (R1997).
To Beverly Hutchinson
(for so many reasons)
INTRODUCTION
What I Need to Hear
You'll probably notice right off that most of this book is written in the first person. Here's why.
Over the years I have resisted several requests for a book of 365 thoughts because I felt there were a number of excellent ones on the market, and I didn't think I had much to add. But a year or so ago I noticed that I have certain ideas that I keep returning to when I wake up in the morning. The thoughts I need have stabilized and are now like a comfortable old coat with big pockets and extra long sleeves that never fails to keep me warm in winter.
So this book is a little different in that it contains what I personally need to hear—over and over. That's why you'll find the occasional odd entry such as “Today I will do two things: shut up and mind my own business” and “When I'm happy, I don't need to look over my shoulder.” Both of these ideas, as well as all the other main thoughts, or “morning notes” for each day, are generalized and expanded upon in the paragraphs that follow them.
My wife Gayle and I have always felt that it cuts down on mistakes if we begin the day with a clear spiritual goal. We have stacks of sheets listing these daily purposes from the years when we took turns coming up with one. This trading back and forth, and especially our sharing a common objective, was extremely helpful, and we still do something along those same lines. The main change in our spiritual path during the almost forty years we have been married is that we have distilled a multitude of concepts down to just a few, each one simple enough that it can't be fudged. These themes appear throughout this book and constitute a progression of steps.
As I say at one point, “The way out of chaos is to stop analyzing and start experiencing, to stop looking for better ways to say it and star t practicing more peaceful and inclusive ways of doing it.” If you think about it, all anyone really needs is the golden rule, and if that were practiced daily, it alone would get you where you want to go. Yet most of us find it helpful to have different ways of coming at the subject, and I try to provide a nice variety of concepts along the lines of “treat others as you want to be treated.”
I laid out the book so that it can either be used sequentially or opened at random. Each page is complete in itself.
To me, the most important thing to remember as we set our daily purpose is that there is One who is always with us. We do best when we don't try to go it alone. Instead, we take God's hand, and above all we take God's advice, which can be heard by anyone who just stops a moment and is still. Whether or not this book helps you in your journey, you will arrive Home. We all will. We can make it difficult by insisting that we figure out everything for ourselves or we can make it easy by accepting Help. Easy is best.
1
To choose love is to begin again.
Clearly, our human family is in distress. Yet because of this, it is also more open to change. Today I join with countless others in a renewed determination to be a better person—a truer parent to children, a more tolerant friend to others, a kinder coworker, a more committed partner. For this to happen, I must make up my mind, because behavior that flows from conflicted thoughts can't be controlled. Engaging in trench warfare with my personality doesn't work. Nor does making resolutions that last only days or weeks. To succeed I must unite my mind around a single purpose. And love is the only true purpose, and the only real unity.
2
I know what to do. The only question is, will I do it.
I have never lived this day before. I am free to start fresh. My mistakes are in the past. They can be my shame or my treasure of useful indicators. I will use them to renew my faith and strengthen my resolve. Because of my mistakes, I know what to do. Today I release the old ways that have split my mind and drained my power. I will fill my thoughts with the newness of love and the simplicity of peace. Today I open myself to others so that I may open my heart to God.
3
The answer is to let go of pressure, not add more.
My tendency is to make matters worse. Let me at least pause a moment and see what I want to do. When I set up a war within my mind, I put it between myself and God, because I make conflict more important than everything else. When I try to thwart other people, winning becomes more valuable to me than Love. And when I try to dictate the course of events, I am immediately at odds with the situation I'm already in. Yet when I relax into equality and trust in a greater Reality, life becomes simpler and my behavior modifies