The Evening Hour — “Seven times a day I praise you…” Psalm 119:164

When I worked fulltime outside of the home, evening meant relaxing, then fatigue to me. I lost all of get up and go as the sun set.

Now that I am working as a freelance writer, I often find renewed energy to write in the evening – a new discovery for me.

Let’s explore together the lesson the evening hour holds when we pause to listen to its story.

The fifth pause of the day is Evening.

Pause and Listen to the Lesson of the Hour
I love how Macrina Wiederkehr describes this time of day. “One hand cradles daylight, the other welcomes night, In this Vespers hour, I sense a very thin veil between heaven and earth…As I symbolically take off my work clothes and put on the robe of prayer, my soul ages like good wine.”

Themes for this hour are gratitude, praise, serenity and mystery.

Many evenings overflow with additional duties and activities. Pausing allows our hearts time to take a breath, cross over the transom from day work to evening responsibilities and find a moment of peace.

Stretch and Grow
She offers questions to ponder at this time:

What has been the greatest blessing of this day?

What one accomplishment can I smile over?

Is there an unfinished task that is taking away my sense of fulfillment? If so, bless it with the promise that you will attend to it tomorrow.

And the zinger: John of the Cross says, “In the evening of life we shall be judged by love.” How well have I loved this day?

A prayer by Macrina Wiederkehr:
O You whose face is a thousand colors: Look upon us in this twilight hour, and color our faces with the radiance of your love. As the light of the sun fades away, light the lamps of our hearts that we may see one another more clearly. Let the incense of our gratitude rise as our hearts become full of music and song. May the work that we bring with us into this hour fall away from our minds as we enter into the mystical grace of the evening hour.