Customer Reviews

Morning Notes: 365 Meditations to Wake You Up (Prather, Hugh)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"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 turning to when I wake up in the morning...So this book is a little different in that it contains what I personally need to hear-over and over." - From the book

The thoughts we think upon awakening have a ripple affect. If our minds are filled with anxious anticipation, regret, self-loathing, worry, or judgment, our day will likely unfold with chaos in its wake.

Fortunately, author Hugh Prather has written a delightful devotional filled with sage advice, spiritual clarity, and practical ideals in his book Morning Notes: 365 Meditations to Wake You Up. Each meditation brings readers closer to present moment awareness, gentleness, forgiveness, and stillness.

Some of the wonderful observations in Morning Notes include:

"Problems do not justify unkindness...My chronic need to rush signals that I am willing to attack my body and fracture my mind. Kindness to myself as well as to others must be a part of the process or else it is ultimately meaningless."

"The journey back to God is the journey back to now. To ascend into heaven is to sink so deeply into now that we lose interest in past regrets and anxious anticipations...To think about what it means to be present is not to be present. Little children are so unsophisticated that they run around, giggle, stare at strangers, taste rocks, and just altogether have way too much fun. They're so clueless, they don't even know they have mastered advanced metaphysical concepts and mystical techniques. Today, I too will practice being clueless."

"The divine does not `test' us or give us `trials' before blessing us. How could God increase pressure, expand the rules, or set new demands if divine Love is changeless and the peace of God is eternal? We know when we are hearing the voice of God because the opposite happens. Suddenly all the pressure is lifted and we feel loved just the way we are. This is also the gift I must give those around me."

"How could one person's way possibly be superior to another person's way if God is leadings us all? If I believe that my spiritual path is superior, my path is not spiritual. Spirit is One. The divine doesn't contain degrees of correctness. Either we all share the same Truth and ultimate destiny, or there is no truth and we are lost in a reality of private perception and momentary interpretation."

I enjoyed reading Morning Notes: 365 Meditations to Wake You Up all the way through, finding much wisdom, humor, and spiritual nourishment in its pages. This book isn't divided by date, only number, so you can pick it up at your leisure-reading one passage at a time or perhaps a few. I look forward to dipping into this book at random, whenever I need a pick-me-up or a daily dose of a potent spiritual vitamin.

This is one of the best books I've ever purchased. I ride a train into work each morning and each morning I pull out this book and read an entry. The entries are short, so even if I don't have a long ride, I have time to read it. Each entry never fails to make me think, to reconsider my actions, and urge me to make a positive change in my life. Entries tend to build on each other, connecting on a theme for a few days. One entry may open your awareness to one area of your life and the next give you something to look for in that area...and soon, you are taking the steps to becoming a better person.

Hugh Prather's "Morning Notes" provides a short spiritual meditation for each day of the year. He points out in the introduction that the most important thing to remember as we set our daily purpose is to ask for God's help.

The meditations aren't dated; they're just numbered from 1 to 365, so you can read them in order or jump around at random. They're a great way to start the day. He includes meditations on topics like:

-- To be in God is simply to be connected.
-- Kindness is the touch of God.
-- I release you from your past, that I may see you as God sees you.
-- I will give peace with my thoughts and cause no harm with my words.
-- I am not a victim of my childhood.
-- All inner shifts are reflected outward...and many more

After each short heading, he provides a paragraph to help that day's message really sink in.

This is a really nice collection of meditations. They're quick, but they set a very positive tone for the day!

Hugh Prather made a name for himself with Notes to Myself. His later books don't match up, and with this one it's obvious he was running on empty.

My wife and I enjoyed reading aloud from Hugh's early books; often the passages led to good discussion and meaningful resolutions. One after another, the passages in Morning Notes left us uninspired and at times even annoyed.

It's almost as if he wrote this book under a deadline, and just meandered from topic to topic, knocking down 365 meditations 20 or 30 at a time until he had enough to call it a book.

Much of the language is obtuse and muddy. Too often when we finished reading a section, we'd turn to each other and say, "What's that supposed to mean?" It was a disappointing and frustrating read.

We jumped ahead and read many pages just to see if there were better things to come. There weren't. It was all pretty much the same.

Typical sample, from Day 199: "Truth is true. That is how simple reality is. Love is love; that is how simple what I have to do is."

Tiresome platitudes abound. "Attack in any form blocks the experience of peace." "There is no tension in simply being what I am." "I alone block my perception of Oneness by thinking defensively." "In a world of projections and meanings based on the past, vision is omnipotent."

On and on. This book is a waste of paper and ink.

I don't like this book very much, but I'm giving it three stars because I know there are truths in it that will help many people. I enjoyed Hugh Prather's Notes to Myself much more than this book. I think I haven't quite found the stillness in myself to appreciate these one-a-day type books. I find it hard to stop reading at the day's entry. I need more of a whole story instead of the brief sentences that are offered. These notes are setup with a statement, like the ones I list below, followed by a few sentences that expound on that idea.

A few of the Morning Notes that resonated with me are: blessed are those who try again, I am not a victim of my childhood, let the comments I make come from my heart not my "honesty", and disagreements cannot diminish love.

I discovered Hugh Prather about 20 years ago, while caring for my husband who was very ill. Every day was traumatic, with one crisis after another, incredible financial hardships, no one to help with his care and sometimes, as his mind deteriorated, real danger a man with dementia.

During those years and since then, I have found Notes to Myself and Notes on Love and Courage an ongoing source of peace. In the worst of my husband's illness it didn't matter that I read some of the same passages repeatedly; as a matter of fact I folded down pages so I could more easily find the passages that were most helpful in my search for a few minutes of calm and peaceful thinking.

To this day, I know that if I pick up a book by Hugh Prather I will find something in it that will make me feel good. I recently bought Morning Notes, which is yet another true gem. I read a page or a few pages each morning and when my life is stressful, I read more.

One of the best things I get from reading the works of Hugh Prather is reassurance that the world is a safe place to be, that many people are loving, gently souls who love and take care of their families. There is an earthy warmth in reading about Hugh Prather's love for his family that makes me feel more trusting of humanity.