When I turned to the lectionary this morning, I began the section called Morning Prayer. In the world of monasteries this period is called Lauds. Lauds come from the Latin word for “praise.” It is easy to see our English word, applaud, in the Latin, Laud. I like the fact that Morning Prayers is a time for praise. In a sense it is time to awaken to the new day and applaud what God has done again. Because of our technology, it is easy to live life without the sense of nature’s rhythms. When it begins to get dark, we simply flip the switch and the lights come on. So we continue life as if it is the middle of the day. If we want to continue reading or sewing, we have no problem. If we want to wander around in the house at 10:00pm, we are in no danger of running into things we can’t see. ...