Morning Notes. Hugh Prather

      INTRODUCTION

       What I Need to Hear

      You'll probably notice right off that most of this book is written in the first person. Here's why.

      Over the years I have resisted several requests for a book of 365 thoughts because I felt there were a number of excellent ones on the market, and I didn't think I had much to add. But a year or so ago I noticed that I have certain ideas that I keep returning to when I wake up in the morning. The thoughts I need have stabilized and are now like a comfortable old coat with big pockets and extra long sleeves that never fails to keep me warm in winter.

      So this book is a little different in that it contains what I personally need to hear—over and over. That's why you'll find the occasional odd entry such as “Today I will do two things: shut up and mind my own business” and “When I'm happy, I don't need to look over my shoulder.” Both of these ideas, as well as all the other main thoughts, or “morning notes” for each day, are generalized and expanded upon in the paragraphs that follow them.

      My wife Gayle and I have always felt that it cuts down on mistakes if we begin the day with a clear spiritual goal. We have stacks of sheets listing these daily purposes from the years when we took turns coming up with one. This trading back and forth, and especially our sharing a common objective, was extremely helpful, and we still do something along those same lines. The main change in our spiritual path during the almost forty years we have been married is that we have distilled a multitude of concepts down to just a few, each one simple enough that it can't be fudged. These themes appear throughout this book and constitute a progression of steps.

      As I say at one point, “The way out of chaos is to stop analyzing and start experiencing, to stop looking for better ways to say it and star t practicing more peaceful and inclusive ways of doing it.” If you think about it, all anyone really needs is the golden rule, and if that were practiced daily, it alone would get you where you want to go. Yet most of us find it helpful to have different ways of coming at the subject, and I try to provide a nice variety of concepts along the lines of “treat others as you want to be treated.”

      I laid out the book so that it can either be used sequentially or opened at random. Each page is complete in itself.

      To me, the most important thing to remember as we set our daily purpose is that there is One who is always with us. We do best when we don't try to go it alone. Instead, we take God's hand, and above all we take God's advice, which can be heard by anyone who just stops a moment and is still. Whether or not this book helps you in your journey, you will arrive Home. We all will. We can make it difficult by insisting that we figure out everything for ourselves or we can make it easy by accepting Help. Easy is best.