I have always started my days with the philosophy of Ferris Bueller:
I have to "look around" a bit before getting to a formal agenda.

So, while still in bed, I might reflect on the night's dreams, listen for new ideas, identify some goals, pray for people, etc., all before beginning the action of the day.

You might think how, historically, people often began grand ventures "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Think of some Cinemascope Columbus setting off with his three ships! But here's the point of "Morning Prayer": God is willing to walk with us through ventures much less grand. In fact, God wants to help us through all of our Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday lives.

Psalm 8, a favorite psalm to me, expresses this idea—that God, whose fingers crafted the stuff of stars, astonishingly, cares for minuscule us!

The Psalms often voice honest emotions and wrestlings. Many of them were written by David (of David and Goliath fame) who went on to flee for his life from King Saul, before himself becoming King of Israel. Talk about ups and downs!

David had a deep relationship with God. He brought to God what was on his mind—and in that, he is a role model for faith. What I admire, too, is how nearly all of the psalms—even those expressing fear—turn to praise God. Psalm 8, a happy psalm, is bookended with the same exclamation of praise to God. But, you will also find praise and thanks to God in Psalm 22—which begins with a sense of abandonment.

Have you ever had occasion to be seasick? Years ago, I was on a large boat, crossing a nasty North Sea. It was so nasty that disposable foil-lined cartons were conveniently placed for passengers throughout the ship. The halls down below were all shifting, and smelling bad, and no one could walk in a straight line, except the seasoned Norwegian sailors who seemed much too cheerful. Anyway, we had hours of this to face, and the best we could do was to wrap in blankets, huddle in lounge chairs on deck, and look, look, look out at the horizon. The horizon was stable, and focusing on that was what we needed.

So is focusing on the scope and gifts of God. David knew this.

Later in the Bible's New Testament, Jesus modeled even deeper relationship with God.

I have always liked the story of Jesus welcoming and giving blessing to little children (Matthew 19:13-14). Usually, the story is told with the idea that we are those children, the children of God (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, 1 John 3:1). In writing this song, though, I was thinking of the adults who were bringing the children to Jesus.

I suspect they couldn't explain it clearly. Maybe they just sensed that Jesus was holy and extraordinary, and somehow, their children needed His blessing. I do imagine "lifting" prayer petitions to God, similar to those parents hoisting their young kids into Jesus' receiving arms.

David knew about bringing his fears and other emotions to God. And because, unlike David, we have lived after the days of Christ, we have another reason to trust God with our daily needs and challenges.

Jesus knew what it is to be human, with human struggles on earth.
One story that demonstrates this profoundly is the raising of Lazarus John 11:1-44). Lazarus, with his sisters Mary and Martha, was a good friend of Jesus who got sick and died while Jesus was elsewhere. When Jesus arrived to be with the mourning family and friends, Lazarus had already been dead and buried in a cave tomb for four days. Yet, Jesus calls him to walk out of his grave, and he does it, alive!

While this story is magnificent in many ways, one immensely powerful little verse (verse 35) declares that "Jesus wept" in front of Lazarus's tomb. Jesus does this, despite seeming to know all along that he would find Lazarus dead and would raise him (see verses 11-15). So we do sense that Jesus is fully in touch with human pain. "In any places, on all roads, your Love precedes, unfolds."

And Christ doesn't leave us alone after he himself rose and returned to Heaven. He said that God would send us the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, to live with us and in us (John 14:16-17). The Spirit in us allows an ever-present connection with God.

The Holy Spirit is not easy to describe, but we know the Spirit's work. Various Old Testament heroes like Samson, Gideon, and David accomplished their powerful deeds when the Spirit came upon them (e.g. Judges 14:6, Judges 6:34, 1 Samuel 16:13).

Jesus Christ also said the Holy Spirit would bring power for witnessing to him (Acts 1:8). And, certainly, when the Spirit arrived (Acts 2:1-41), the power and witness were unmistakable!

Later in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul vividly urges Christians to "put on the full armor of God" for protection (Ephesians 6:10-18). We should also take up "the sword of the Spirit" for our struggle against evil. So we can say that part of the work of the Spirit is to "sustain" God's people.

My song "Morning Prayer" has had a few endings. All of them speak of Christ and the Spirit—with God—as the Trinity. Most Christians might not think often of the Trinity, since it can be difficult to understand. Still, many congregations mark "Trinity Sunday" the week after celebrating Pentecost, and it's important to take in how all three "persons" of the Triune God have sought us for a loving relationship. God has created. Christ has saved. The Holy Spirit sustains.

There is a sense that this life-giving love of the Triune God wraps and surrounds us, even as sunlight does. The idea of God "shining his face" on us appears in translations of the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:22-26. One song ending includes this sense.

Another ending uses more modern imagery: In the Midwest of the US, houses are built with a frame of wood studs covered by drywall or plaster. You can see the frame of studs go up as the building is constructed, and the studs provide the house's strength. Before we begin the activities of any day, we can find courage by considering how God's strength and love do shelter us. We can think of the Bible's metaphor of "putting on the armor of God" or, like David in the Psalms, we can reflect on the power and love of God that we have already seen.

No, my life is not especially one of grand expeditions, setting out to cross vast oceans—but for any kind of going forth, this helps me take some solid grounding along