Is it Morning?

Hello from my heart to yours.....

An old Hasidic rabbi asked his pupils how to tell when night ended and the morning began (which is the time for certain holy prayers).
"Is it when you see an animal in the distance and know whether it's a sheep or a dog?" asked one pupil.
"No," the rabbi answered.
"Is it when you can look at a tree and can tell whether it's a fig tree or a pear tree?" asked another.
"No," the rabbi answered again.
After a few more tries, the pupils asked, "Then tell us, what is it?"

"It is when you can look upon the face of any man or woman and know that they are your sister or brother. Until then it is still night."
                                                                                                                                                                                     

Daniel Gottlieb,

 taken from Learning From the Heart.

Is it still night in your life? Or has morning come?

These days, we never really take the time to "look upon the face" of others.. we wake up in the morning in a rush to get everyone on their way to wherever they have to go.. perhaps not even saying "good morning" or "have the best day ever" .. not every family does morning prayers together or evening prayers for that matter... I am even guilty of skipping them sometimes, but I do find that I am always looking upon the faces of my children... and they do look upon mine.. we have those secret greetings and sayings that bind us.. recently, we added "Sat Sri Akaal" which means "God is the ultimate truth" .. oh, we so love that...

Anyway, morning always comes for us... but it is an especially special time for me and my youngest.  Because of the spectrum world we live in, we have to follow the same routine or all chaos ensues.. so, I get up and make coffee.. I turn on the light in his room.. I drink some coffee and think about the day I have ahead of me..... I pray. I meditate. I praise God. (and sometimes, I write a blessing..) I go tell him, "Rise and shine, the day is Divine.. you need to get up Principito"  (or some other greeting that I know will make him smile) .... I make his eggs and toast and set it on the counter.. I walk back to his room again and make sure he is dressing.. he comes to eat.. I stand beside the counter and play "words with friends" as he eats.. and then......... I look upon him... I love to look at his long eyelashes... his freckled face.. the way his hair stands up...the way he chews.. the way he drinks... so much so, that many times he will look up from his plate and ask, "why do you stare at me like that, Mama?" .... I say, "because you are my cutie" .. and he laughs a little and says I'm silly... it's probably when he is at his calmest and sweetest.

This month is "Autism Awareness Month" ... the neurologist says he has Aspergers... sometimes, I disagree... his brothers always disagree.. they believe he is just a brat that wants his way all the time... yeah, I can see that, too...  none-the-less, he is special this little boy.. he is so loving... it is easy to see God in him when you are one-on-one with him... but when he is angry... well, watch out... Studies show that an estimated 1 out of 54 boys and 1 in 252 girls are diagnosed with autism in the United States.. the numbers are probably greater, if you ask me, simply because so many, like my child, are diagnosed with every other thing, but an Autism Spectrum Disorder...  usually they just get an ADHD or ODD diagnosis and then, fall through the cracks... when people see this child in his "wild" state, they do believe he is just bratty or crazy or worse, that I am a horrible parent.. they do not take the time to "look upon his face" and see that he is their brother...

We are all guilty of this at one time or another... we just don't have time for it... we walk right past loved ones and strangers alike without stopping to "look upon their faces"...  I am fortunate to be able to "see" so many people as my sisters and brothers... I think I wrote a blessing once about how we say, "I C U" to one another .... and we do.. we do feel the connection, the energy, the peace... we see one another's reflections in ourselves... we see one another as "sisters and brothers" ... yeah, I know, sounds so way out there... so, let me just wrap this up since I am tangent writing now...

All I really wanted to say is that we are all children of God and it should always be morning for us... how wonderful if we could always sing ...

Morning has broken, like the first morning. 
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird. 
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning, 
Praise for them springing fresh from the Word.  

May you always "look upon the faces" of others and see your sisters and brothers... may you always love one another beyond measure ... may you be blessed and may others be blessed by you... you are a cherished blessing to the world and me.

May your day be filled with morning after morning...

With love,
Elena