Give us this day our daily bread

Give us this day our daily bread

It’s dark and quiet at 5:43 in the morning as I begin to write this entry. I light a candle, not to see, but for comfort.  I awoke a little after five this morning with thoughts racing through my head about what I didn’t do yesterday and how much I have to do today.  After the third attempt to shut off that annoying tape, that is only adding anxiety to my life, I rolled over and picked up my smart phone. 

“Catholic Daily Office” I typed into the browser and found the invitatory psalm for today.  I love the way this prayer cycle opens, “O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will proclaim your praise.”  What a suitable way to being any day, especially today! 

It is September, and any mom will tell you that these first two months of the school year are filled with frantic activity.  Additionally, I have new clients and as much work as I can handle.  Yesterday, I had five business meetings in five different places, and ended the day with a school parent’s meeting.  My weekly “to do” list is over 70 items, none of which I completed yesterday.  My meetings only added to my work.  In addition, in the business of yesterday, I didn’t feel in touch with God.  I haven’t written an entry to this blog in over two weeks.  Thus, my anxiousness with the dawn of another day.

I read the Psalms, searching for words that will draw me closer to God and relieve my anxiety.  As I read Psalm 62, I focus on “my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you.” Later in the same Psalm I read, “My soul clings to you; your right hand raises me up.”  That’s good stuff, but not what I need to quiet the apprehension for the day.

At the end of the set of prayers, I say the “Our Father”.  I say it again, because as I ended it, I realized that I only repeated it, not prayed it.  Then a third time, focusing on each word.  The words are as if they are being whispered into my ear.  “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Oh yes, what I need from God is for today and only today.  It is not to complete all of the things on my to-do list, solve all of my client’s problems or even clean every room in my house.  But to be present with my family today, to give excellent service to my clients, to praise and worship my God and to be Him to those I meet. 

“Give us this day our daily bread,” is such a powerful phrase, but so commonly repeated that it can lose its authority and strength.  Let this me my mantra for today, O Lord.

It’s now 6:58 am and the sun is up.  As I’ve pondered my morning prayer and written this piece, my family has drifted in and out of the room.  It’s time to begin the activity of the day, remembering that I need only focus on today and ask for “our daily bread”.