Life changed for me on February 26^th . My wife gave birth to our daughter Gwennie. It’s been a few weeks of learning, constantly asking the question, “Is that normal?”, and mostly hunkering down in the house. Gwennie is growing and healthy and her mom is absolutely amazing.

We’ve established a routine during our newborn shelter in place period in which we read Gwennie a story after her last feeding before our bedtime and then I swaddle her, pick her up, play a song or two, and sing to her while rocking her to sleep. I really enjoy it and it seems to help Gwennie sleep longer (which is huge).

A couple of nights ago I made a small mistake during song time. I thought it would be kind of funny to play “Arms Wide Open” by Creed and sing to Gwennie in my Scott Stapp voice. Gwennie did not enjoy this. Her eyes popped wide open and she began squirming and fussing. I stopped singing to see if my Scott Stapp impression was what was bothering her. Nope. Gwennie started squirming and fussing harder as soon as Creed was the only sound that filled the room. Apparently my daughter is not a Creed fan. I can live with that.

I decided to try a different song with a softer melody, and randomly asked our Echo Dot to play the Cat Stevens version of “Morning Has Broken.” Gwennie stopped fussing and squirming almost as soon as the song started. Her eyes gently closed during the first verse and stayed shut as I laid her down to sleep. Since that night, we’ve played “Morning Has Broken” every night before bed.

At first thought it seems odd to sing a song about the morning at the end of the night. However, I’ve personally begun enjoying ending the night by acknowledging the wonderful fact that there’s a brand new day ahead and that I get to be a part of that day. Living out the lyrics “Praise with elation, praise every morning, God’s re−creation of the new day” can be difficult when the “morning” breaks at 3 AM for a diaper change and feeding.  Nonetheless, remembering those words has helped me value the little, sometimes monotonous, moments that come with being a new parent.

This whole experience gives me a better appreciation of the practices and focuses of the Benedictine Catholic monks at my old Middle School and High School in California. I read or heard St Benedict’s words “Always We Begin Again” more times than I could count. I thought it sounded nice, but put very little additional thought into them at the time.

Benedictine monks pray almost as much as I change diapers. Their lives are filled with repetition of practices that many would find to be monotonous. However by valuing the idea that every moment can be a new beginning, a fresh start, a fresh revelation of God’s creation Benedictine monks can find spiritual fulfillment in the repetition and monotony.

Life has changed for many of us because of the Covid−19 virus in the last few weeks. My wife and I are really fortunate that the main change in our life has been our wonderful new addition.  I know this is a really hard time for many folks and it will probably get harder.

I don’t have any easy answers or remedies for making things in life 100% better. Bad things happen and good things happen. I don’t have a great explanation as to why.

However, in the last few weeks I’ve found in good times, tough times, exciting times, and monotonous times that taking time each day to simply begin again, to “Praise with elation praise every morning, God’s re−creation of the new day” can refresh the soul with the knowledge that it is a wonder to simply be here whatever moment in which we find ourselves.  Here’s to a fresh start and a new day.