Each morning is new now

“Each morning is new now. I wake to the inner music of thanks for the dear gift of life and with eager plans for the uses of the day. The first sound I hear, whether a flock of chirping birds, or the whispering wind, or of traffic with its urgency, is dear. The growing light is an omen, and a good one. Thoughts crowd in, and the mind’s wheels begin their busy turning like those of the cars and trucks out on the main road.

Morning has always been a good time for me; I have always awakened in eagerness to get on with the day’s work. But now that I know my mornings are, like all men’s, limited, even if they come to a few thousand more, they are too precious to take for granted. I must taste them, and everything, both for the first time and the last. And so should we all do, always.”

— Bradford Smith, 1963
Quaker teacher, writer, and peacemaker

Reader Responses

Where do you find joy as you get older?
What about life has gotten sweeter?

I became a member of Club 80s in October when I celebrated my 1945 birthday (the same day as the United Nations). I feel the most Joy when it becomes clear that I have been following God's will in small matters or in large ("Thy will be Done," I pray every day). I have been making some big decisions over the past year with apparent 'delays'. It has just become obvious that these 'delays' were part of God's Perfect Timing... and I feel Peace, Gratitude... and Joy.

Marilyn S., Haddonfield, NJ, USA
I find joy in my grandkids. And, as I grow older, I care less and less about what the world thinks of me and far more what my maker thinks.

Gayla J.-H., Facebook
I find joy in opening my door at midnight and taking a breath of air before bed.

James P., Facebook
I find joy everywhere: Family, animals, at church, with friends, with people standing out at No Kings marches, blackworking on canvas, in sorrow. At 74, I have many new body issues. I have enough to eat, drink, and have reliable health care. My sorrows and pains are built on a foundation of joy. 

Alice B., Facebook
My newly discovered Quaker life lights up my days.

Jeffrey P., Facebook
Most of my life I’ve been the youngest member of whatever group of friends I have. In the last several years I am finding friends among people the age of my adult children. I have quite enjoyed how they’ve enriched my perspective and I’ve been touched by how they’ve received me.

Michelle K., Facebook
Practicing gratitude makes me see the little things that bring me joy every day.

Kate M., Facebook
[As you get older] you realize that you can let go of some things that don't seem to be very important after all.

Tom L., Facebook

This Week’s Messages

Mon Mar 02

Take time for joy

“In the end, people don’t view their life as merely the average of all its moments—which, after all, is mostly nothing much plus some sleep. For human beings, life is meaningful because it is a story. A story has a sense of a whole, and its arc is determined by the significant moments, the ones where something happens.” …
Tue Mar 03

Joy is a fruit of the spirit

“It is very hard to find anything joyful if you are suffering grief, loss, pain or sadness. However, joy can emerge as a result of our faith; it is one of the “fruits of the spirit”. For Quakers, this can mean silent worship or prayer, either individually or in a group. We seek to come closer to the Spirit and to be open to Divine Guidance. As a result of worship, many of us feel deep connection to each other, to society, to the universe.” …
Wed Mar 04

God is Change

“All that you touch You Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth Is Change. God is Change.” …
Thu Mar 05

The last time I was arrested

“I pray most for courage, especially as I get older and my bones can be broken more easily. The last time I was arrested, the roadway that I lay on was extremely hard, and I didn’t know what the police… might have in their minds.” …
Fri Mar 06

Your one wild and precious life

Who made the world? / Who made the swan, and the black bear? / Who made the grasshopper? / This grasshopper, I mean— / the one who has flung herself out of the grass, / the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, / who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down— / who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes …
Sat Mar 07

How to measure your experiences

“We must be confident that there is still more ‘life’ to be ‘lived’ and yet more heights to be scaled. The tragedy of middle age is that, so often, men and women cease to press ‘towards the goal of their high calling’. They cease learning, cease growing; they give up and resign from life. As wisdom dawns with age, we begin to measure our experiences not by what life gives to us, not by the things withheld from us, but by their power to help us to grow in spiritual wisdom.” …

Read the source of today’s quote
Banner art by Georgia Peterson

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Author

  • Bradford Smith

    Bradford Smith (1910-1964) was a Quaker educator and author. He and his wife Marion worked with Fulbright scholars in the United States and abroad. From 1959 to 1961 they were co-directors of the Quaker International Center in New Delhi, India.

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