Consecrating The Day

Poems, hymns lyrics help me reflect upon a focus idea ... I might start the process by prompting an AI to do something like:

• Generate eight 1950s-era cool beat-poet spoken-word lyrics for sparse modal jazz instrumentals for different thoughts that arise out of the contemplation of the following question, "In your first moments upon waking, before the day's agenda rushes in, can you set a positive motivation, dedicating your actions to service and love, as a way of consecrating the day?"
• I would prefer that each lyric have a Title based on its content and a Sub-Title that is a verse from scripture that inspires that content.

1. "Coffee Cup Cathedral"

Sub-Title: "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love" - Psalm 143:8

Listen, man— this morning light breaking through venetian blinds like some kind of holy ghost fingers reaching for my coffee cup— and I'm thinking maybe maybe this kitchen table is an altar and this first breath before the phone rings before the boss man calls before the world comes crashing— this breath right here is my offering my little rebellion against the machine that wants to eat my soul for breakfast— so I dedicate this day this crazy beautiful terrible day to something bigger than my paycheck bigger than my hangover bigger than my fear— I dedicate it to love, daddy-o to the cat on the corner who needs a meal to the waitress working doubles to every soul grinding through this concrete jungle— because what else we got if not each other?

2. "Dawn's Democracy"

Sub-Title: "Through love serve one another" - Galatians 5:13

Dig it— the sun don't ask permission to paint the sky orange and pink just does its thing democratic-like shining on saints and sinners pushers and preachers all getting the same light— and here I am consciousness creeping back like Charlie Parker's horn finding its way through the fog— and I got a choice, see I can wake up serving myself or I can wake up serving serving something real serving the beat of humanity that pulses under these mean streets— every cup of joe I pour every door I hold every "good morning" I mean— that's my vote in the democracy of dawn where love is the only candidate worth backing

3. "Modeh Ani Mambo"

Sub-Title: "I offer thanks to You, living and eternal King" - Modeh Ani

Wake up wake up wake up— soul returning like a prodigal cat slinking back into this body this beautiful broken vessel— and the first word before coffee before consciousness fully kicks— is thanks thanks for another shot at this cosmic crap game called life— thanks for these lungs still pulling air these eyes still catching light this heart still keeping time like Monk's left hand finding rhythm in the chaos— and I'm thinking if the universe gave me back my soul after all the stuff I pulled yesterday then maybe just maybe I owe it something beautiful today— some small kindness some tiny revolution of tenderness in this hard-boiled world

4. "Subway Sermon"

Sub-Title: "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice" - Romans 12:1

Man, this body— this flesh and bone jazz ensemble waking up to another gig in the underground theater of existence— and I'm thinking about sacrifice not the blood and altar kind but the everyday kind the giving-up-your-seat kind the sharing-your-sandwich kind— because what's holy if not the decision made in that split second between sleep and awake to offer this day this body this collection of atoms and dreams to something useful— to be a bridge not a wall to be a window not a mirror— yeah, this body stumbling toward coffee is my offering my beat-up beautiful offering to the altar of human kindness

5. "Present Tense Paradise"

Sub-Title: "Concentrate the mind on the present moment" - Buddha

Here— right here in this moment before memory kicks in before desire starts yapping there's this space this beautiful empty space like Miles leaving notes out making silence sing— and in this space I can choose choose to dedicate not yesterday's regrets not tomorrow's worries but this this breath this heartbeat this now— to love to service to the great cosmic dig of being alive and aware— present tense paradise found in the gap between pillow and purpose

6. "Gayatri Groove"

Sub-Title: "May the divine light illuminate our minds" - Gayatri Mantra

Light— not the harsh fluorescent kind but the kind that seeps through closed eyelids whispering wake up wake up— and I'm praying in my own bent way for illumination for the mental lights to flicker on like a jazz club at dusk— illuminate this mind so I can see past the headlines and the hate the hustle and the hype— show me the sacred in the sidewalk cracks the divine in the diner coffee— because I want to dedicate this day to seeing really seeing the light in every face even the ones that forgot they're carrying it

7. "Compassion's Chopsticks"

Sub-Title: "Look at all beings with eyes of compassion" - Thich Nhat Hanh

Opening these eyes— these windows that could judge or could love depending on the prescription I choose to wear— and I'm making a pact with the bathroom mirror to see different today to look at the world like Dizzy's horn bent toward heaven finding beauty in the angle— every cat I meet today carrying their own heavy their own hope their own holiness— and who am I to look at them with anything but compassion's chopsticks picking up the broken pieces with delicate precision and infinite patience

8. "The Resistance of Yes"

Sub-Title: "Be our strength every morning" - Isaiah 33:2

Before the no's begin— no time no money no energy— there's this moment this revolutionary moment where yes still lives— yes to love yes to service yes to the impossible possibility that today could be different— and I need strength for this yes strength to resist the gravity of routine the pull of profit the weight of why bother— give me muscles for mercy backbone for beauty knuckles for kindness— because saying yes to love and service in a world built on no is the holiest rebellion the most sacred insurrection a one-man uprising starting right here in this unmade bed in this unplanned moment in this unexpected grace of another morning another chance another yes