sed
primitive peoples, and it is not much wonder that they adored and
worshiped the dawn and the rising sun.

We still speak of the dawn of a new civilization. Morning is still the
most universal figure of progress, the type of a new life. More than
all other natural occurrences it is used as a symbol of something
higher.

May we not, accordingly, discover that from a psychological as well as a
physiological point of view, for reasons of health and development,
morning is the most significant and important time of the day!

No human being at the first moment of awakening is gloomy or angry.
Everyone awakes in peace with all the world. It is a time of freedom. A
moment later memory may bring to the mind some scene or picture that
leads to good or bad thought, followed by emotion. This first moment of
consciousness is the critical and golden moment of human life. How often
has it been said to a child: "You must have gotten out of the wrong side
of bed this morning."

Even animals and birds feel the significance of morning. Who has not, at
early dawn, heard a robin or some other bird begin to sing--"at first
alone," as Thomas Hardy says, "as if sure that morning has come, while
all the others keep still a moment as if equally sure that he is
mistaken." Soon, however, voice after voice takes up the song until the
whole woodland is ringing with joyous tones. Who, in such an hour, has
not been deeply moved with the spirit and beauty of all life and the
harmony and deep significance of all of nature's processes?

If we observe the awaking of birds and animals more carefully, however,
we find something besides songs.

All the higher animals go through certain exercises on first waking.
There seems a universal instinct which teaches that certain stretches,
expansions and deep breathings are necessary at this time. In fact,
these actions are so deeply implanted in the instinct of animals that
they seem a kind of sacred acceptance of life, a species of thanksgiving
for all that life brings.

If we accept "Pippa Passes" as a parable of human life and Pippa as a
typical human being, may we not in her awakening find an example of this
universal instinct? May we not find her first thoughts and feelings
worthy of study and her example one to be followed? Do we not, in fact,
find here a beautiful illustration of the proper mode of meeting the
sacredness of dawn?

As a matter of fact, how do we actually greet the morning? Do we