Seven Months of Morning Watch

Seven months ago, I started "broadcasting" a morning watch devotion time on my church's Facebook page.  I started it as the pandemic began spreading exponentially in the U.S.  I started it in the days after my church decided to move to virtual worship.  I had no plan, really.  

My pastor was putting together online opportunities to support our congregation members, and I wanted to help.  I'm an early morning person in a way that most people aren't.  Several church friends had been moved to working from home, and I had heard from them that they wished there was some sort of morning mix of devotion and creative time to begin their day.  I got my pastor's O.K., and on the morning of March 30, I made my first attempt.

I had originally planned to choose my own Bible passages and write my own prayers, but as I thought about it, I said to myself, "Why do that when Phyllis Tickle has already put together that resource?"  I've been using her 3 volume set, The Divine Hours, so on the morning of March 30, I pulled that book off the shelf and read the passages out loud.  Then, before the final prayer, I gave us 5-7 minutes to journal, to sketch, to meditate, or to do whatever grounds us.

I am so glad that I used the Phyllis Tickle book.  Back then, I had no idea that I would still be doing morning watch seven months later.  I thought I would do it for a few weeks and then life might shift back to something that looked more like normal.  I thought that Easter might be a demarcation point, and once the Octave of Easter was over, I'd stop broadcasting.

Now I have no idea when I'll stop.  It's been a good experience for me.  I read the Bible passages differently when I'm reading them out loud and when I know that people will be watching me read them out loud.  I don't mean that I change my verbal reading style, but that when I'm reading out loud, I don't skim or let my eyes wander across the page, the way I do when I'm reading silently.

I have been sketching more, and if I hadn't been doing morning watch, some of that sketching wouldn't have happened.

But what's most important is that at the end, I do a benediction, a time of reminding people of how much God loves us.  I give the message that I need to hear:  God is with us, God delights in us, God is rooting for us.  

As the months have gone on, periodically the process feels stale.  I feel like I'm sketching the same thing, saying the same thing, using the same words.  And then, a fresh idea breaks through.  

The process is important for me, in the way that it has been for years.  I make my way through the day in a much more grounded way if I actually begin the day by doing something that grounds me (imagine that!).  Is it important to anyone else?  I have 3-6 faithful viewers; usually 1-4 people watch live.  Usually each post gets positive interaction:  some likes, some comments.

I'll keep doing morning watch--for how long?  These past seven months have shown us the folly of making definitive plans.  It works for me now, so let me stay the course.