Morning Prayer

"When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive--to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love." 

--Marcus Aurelius

Your existence is a miracle.

Before your conception, you were unfulfilled potential, a little angel awaiting its moment of manifestation alongside a million other hopefuls. What if another had reached the Gates before you, crossing after nine months the threshold into this vast and mysterious universe? Another would be here in your stead and you would be in the aether, formless, without voice or body.

Now think that your mother and father both overcame similar odds, and each of their parents, so on and so forth, ever backward, every step increasing the odds against your existence by millions.

And yet here you are.

What are these complaints, gripes, aches, irritations, discomforts, and desires when weighed against your very existence? These are the symptoms of life. They should be celebrated, not despised.

This is your brief moment of awareness, your one and only chance to make a contribution to the human masterwork of which you are but a tiny part. Like a cell you will soon deteriorate and crumble away, to be replaced by another while your parts are dispersed into the cosmos.

“What we do now echoes in eternity.” You will soon return to the transcendent, to the realm of unrealized potential to await whatever the universe has in store for you. What will you leave behind on this cosmic spec of dust? Will you slide off into the aether, forgotten within a generation or two? Or will you leave a lasting mark, something tangible that carries your legacy forward?

Will you, at the moment of your demise, regret that you lived poorly, that you wasted your time on meaningless pursuits while harboring grudges and fueling anxieties without purpose? Or will you sigh contently, knowing that you did everything in your power to play your part to the best of your abilities?

Appreciate all that life has bound to you and remember that your presence on this earth is a miracle worth celebrating.

Amun.