Gaze silently in the early morning

   Saunders Lewis is a Welsh poet who published a poem,

"A Daisy in April" in 1991. This poem teaches us something about seeing. He tells us how he came to see what too often we would bypass. Across the nation on many manicured lawns,

soon we will notice gardeners literally putting up a fit when they see those common yellow flowers. You and I have probably walked over many daisies without even thinking of them. The poet says, "he saw." And this is what he wrote: "Yesterday I saw a daisy like a shining mirror of the dawn."

I am up early this morning writing my first post on my blog.

I am thinking of the many candles I have seen lit in Lourdes.

I am looking at those fighting daisies now. Can I light a candle

now and see again? How do we open our eyes to the moments

we all take for granted? When I was younger; I would walk around with a magnifying glasses to see what I couldn't see with my own eyes.

Sometimes, I think we have to stoop down and really examine things around us. Like an ordinary daisy, if we were to touch her petals, perhaps something may awaken in us.Like candles lit in so many places of worship, may we appreciate a moment when the Almighty might awaken a miracle somewhere!

The monks in Christian monasteries begin the day with

"Apertis oculis nostris!" ("Let us open our eyes!") Like drowsy

disciples startled by the shining light, may we rouse ourselves

this coming summer and spot the daisies we take so much for

granted. I too am trying to follow my own words. Look at

those lights in Lourdes, France and see more. Yes we need

more attention. Absolute attention this quiet morning looking

at daisies on a manicured lawn! Simone Weil once wrote:

"If anyone looks enough at almost anything, looks with

absolute attention at a flower, a stone, the bark of a tree, grass

snow, dirt, a cloud..." Yes, a candle!  "Something like

revelation takes place. Something is given..." What will be

given this early morning as I look at daisies and want to light

a candle again at Lourdes? "God Himself at his pace, in his

time!" And what do I need to do? How do I respond?

Awaken my own blindness, deafness and allow God's spirit

to renew me and all of us! And how is this to happen? I like

the words of a 12th century Cistercian nun: "Gaze silently!"