I grew to love early mornings…

Growing up, I rarely attended church.  I am not sure why. It probably had to do with the fact that my family was always going, whether it was soccer, boy scouts, or band.  The effect of not attending church often was that Sunday was the one day we were able to sleep in and finally catch-up on rest we needed as a result of constantly moving.  I carried the activity of sleeping-in through high school and into college when I met my wife. 

After marrying my wife, I no longer had the option to avoid weekly Sunday mass.  Catholic churches generally have three masses each Sunday, at least those I have attended.  There was always an early morning mass that is performed at 7:30 or 8:00 a.m., a mid-morning mass at 9:00 or 9:30, and a late morning/early afternoon mass which took place right around noon.  My practice of sleeping in the morning necessitated, at least during the years of our marriage, that my wife and I go to the late mass.     

Late masses are not always the most enjoyable masses.  These masses are generally more crowded than the others.  I think this is due to other parishioners’ practice to sleep in late on Sunday as well.  As a result, the pews tend to become stocked with people, and mass becomes a struggle for seat space much siblings fighting in the back seat of a car on a long trip.

The parishioners who attend this mass are usually young parents with young children.  Young children are great distracters in mass as they are prone to wiggle and squirm while chowing down on a bag of Cheerio’s and antagonizing their siblings.   Sometimes the kids get so obnoxious that one of the parents has to carry the kid out which is always distracting if you seat in between the parent holding the screaming child and the pew exit. 

Between the children and the lack of space, it is very hard for my to concentrate on the message.  The remedy to such misery is two-fold. 

There are always masses on Saturday.  However, I do not like to go to mass on Saturday.  For me, its like starting Lent on Mardi Gras.  The other remedy is to go to the early masses on Sunday. 

To do this, though, requires rising from bed at the early hour of 6:30 a.m., a feat worthy of Hercules.  To wake-up is nothing.  I have always had the innate ability to wake-up a few moments before the alarm goes off.  The problem lies in standing upright and moving to the shower.  Once you sit-up though, you are committed to starting the day. 

However, as the saying goes, anything worth while is worth working for.  The Herculean strength required to arise in the morning is worth to experience what early mornings allow.  The sun has not itself fully woke, giving all a wonderful pale glow.  Orange creeps into your window like an ember on a fire and the house is silent allowing thoughts to speak.  The tired feeling circling the head and the crisp morning air fill the body with flighty feeling.

Indisputably, a hot shower always feel great at 6:30 in the morning.  It washes away lingering dreams.  It is a motivator to grand ambitions.  When I take my shower, I can review what I need to do during the day or perhaps work out some plot detail in my many unfulfilled novels. 

The road are empty allowing you the luxury of traveling as fast or slow as you want to go.  Nothing is too bright.  All is acceptable and good in the morning. 

The experience can also be compounded when traveling.  I remember one particular trip I took with my wife to Las Vegas.   We left early in the morning and arrived in New Mexico early in the morning when the sun was just beginning to crack the horizon.  There on the side of the road was a lone gas station.  In the background, there was a burnt orange desert.  While we wanted to get to Las Vegas, something in the air kept us in that place for a while and soak in the scene.

Early mass is a wonderful experience as well.  The church is silent except for the shuffling of feet and the breath of air lingering in the church’s ceiling.  You don’t get the silence in later masses; people are always chatting irreverently before and after mass. 

As early masses, I hear the message of the Universe in the silence, the shuffling, and the air.  For a moment, all is quiet enough for me to connect with my need for stillness.  This is why I love early mornings.