"And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed." (Mark 1:35)
You know that time of day when the sun is just getting ready to rise, and the reds and oranges fill the sky, giving a golden cast onto everything around you? It’s as though for a brief moment you are transported into a world of magic and mystery. This is a liminal time; not quite night, not quite day. Photographers refer to this as the golden hour.
I love this painting, Light and Solitude by Casey Childs. It may not be golden, but this painting evokes the magic hour nonetheless. At least, it does for me. The way the light shines from the window. The way the girl sitting with her feet up on the wall, reading her book. There’s a serenity and quiet joy to it.
As an introvert, I need a lot of alone time. And as a morning person, I get the bulk of my best alone time before everyone else rises. Mornings are my magic time. Apparently mornings were Jesus’s magic time too.
(That may be the only thing Jesus and I have in common but I digress…)
Self help and productivity gurus refer to the first hour of your day as your magic hour because what you do in the first moments after you arise sets the tone for your entire day. How do you spend it?