Sacred Bookends

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens (Eccl 3:1)

Let all things be done decently and in order (1 Cor 14:40)

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. (Mark 1:35)

I recently came across a document in my dossier of “important” things. I am known for my dossiers: vacation dossiers, remodeling dossiers, organization dossier, meal planning, etc. This particular document is my master list of household to do tasks. It is separated by month, week of the month, and daily tasks. It is one of my opus dei moments of organization. I love organization, I do. It turns out I love routine as well. In my retirement it seems I had allowed myself to resemble a hippie a little too much. I was sailing along with this concept of letting my days flow and letting go of rigidity so that I could be more present to the present moment. When you read the creation story of Genesis and the book of Leviticus there is a deep truth of our Creator that lies in those pages. God is a God of order. He is the God that brings this order into chaos. We are made in the image and likeness of that same orderly creator. With the new year came a new course on my Hallow App, Routines Course, presented by Leah Darrow. I felt God pointing in a not so discrete way to one of the directions He would like to direct my upcoming year. I am now almost four weeks in to my new routine and I am called to share with you the grace and beauty of what Leah Darrow calls Sacred Bookends. Sacred Bookends are the routines that define the beginning and the end of our day. I thought I had a morning routine, it was my morning prayer routine. My unrealized problem was that this wasn’t a complete routine but only one aspect. I would often leave prayer time feeling untethered and undirected. As for nightly routines, well, those have never existed for me. Here I will give a shout out to my mom who has indeed maintained a nightly routine that she affectionately refers to as her “pre-ups” and that I have made light of over the years. Mom, sorry, you were once again right. Our sacred bookends are supposed to care for our physical, spiritual, and intellectual well being. And so, with prayer as the guiding light to what my routines should look like, I have embarked on this journey of redefining my morning and evening time. I have found that anchoring my day’s beginning and end in routine has freed the rest of the day to be a better hippie. And what I mean by that is that I have found that Holy Spirit and I are making better use of the hours that flow in the middle. God is good! You can find some of Leah’s inspirational quotes about routines in the “Quotables” tab this week. One other blessing that emerges from this shift is a deeper appreciation for the routines that are an integral part of my Catholic faith. The tried and true unwavering routine of the Mass that so many can find ‘boring’ I find ever more beautiful for its reflection of the law set forth by God thousands of years ago to direct us to His eternal order and holiness. As we approach Lent next week, sacred bookends would be a beautiful place to repent and turn again fully to the order of life that God intended. Where in life can your routine benefit from some tending (or my catch phrase of the year, thanks to The Home Edit, ‘editing’). Take the opportunity over the six weeks of Lent to give your routine to God by collaborating with Him in prayer as to what will help shape your day “towards realizing the incredible potential God has sown within each of us.” (Leah Darrow)