A Sunday Thought About Beautiful Mornings to Start the Week Off Right

Winter, spring, summer, or fall, there's nothing like a beautiful morning to start the day off on the right foot. Of course, we Catholics know that God, who created the universe, gives us beautiful mornings from time to time. They're like little stocking stuffers at Christmas. You can live without them, but they bring a little shot of joy when you get them.

If you've read this blog in the past, you know that we've had a lot to say about the Beautiful and our Holy Church's "treasure chest."

We've all got a key to a fabulous treasure chest. Since the day Our Lord established His Church when He handed St Peter the Keys to the Kingdom and told His Apostles to bring the Good News to the whole world, our Holy Catholic Church has changed the world. In the course of evangelizing the world, many of the common and ordinary things of this world were turned to rich treasures that we can enjoy any time we choose. Sadly, few of us choose to do so anymore.
Much, if not all, of great art, great music and great literature developed as the world turned to Christ's Church - the Holy Catholic Church - over the centuries following His Ascension into Heaven. Yet so many of us Catholics remain ignorant of all this as we bump along the back roads of our busy lives. We prefer the pop culture offered through TV, radio, laptops and iPads. The latest phase of this tawdry lifestyle finds too many of us trolling Facebook-world, typing our text messages, lapping up bits of tweets, or whatever latest "social media" fad commands our efforts and attention.

One of the themes of these Sunday posts has been bringing a taste of the Beautiful in the form of beautiful popular culture. It really does exist. In fact, in the past it was more the rule than the exception. But no matter, you can find it if you look for it. And as we present these little jewels from time to time, we hope you hear and appreciate the difference between what is truly beautiful and the usual pop slop that inundates our eyes and ears.

In that spirit we think this Youtube video captures the essence of a beautiful morning. It's the opening scene from the Hollywood movie version of Rogers and Hammerstein's musical stage play, "Oklahoma." The lead character of Curly was played here by Gordon Macrae, a popular actor in the 1940s and 1950s with a fine baritone voice.

When it comes to the great American "standards," this is one of my favorites, objectively on its own merits, but personally because my mother used to sing it quite often when I was a little kid. Since God has blessed me with a clear memory of voices buried in the distant past, I can still hear her lilting voice in the clearest, dearest tones.

Oh, and here are Oscar Hammerstein's typically brilliant lyrics:

There's a bright golden haze on the meadow,
There's a bright golden haze on the meadow,
The corn is as high as an elephant's eye,
An' it looks like its climbin' clear up to the sky.

Chorus:
 

Oh what a beautiful morning,
Oh what a beautiful day,
I've got a wonderful feeling,
Everything's going my way.

Repeat chorus

All the cattle are standing like statues,
All the cattle are standing like statues,
They don't turn their heads as they see me ride by.
But a little brown mav'rick is winking her eye.

Repeat chorus

All the sounds of the earth are like music,
All the sounds of the earth are like music,
The breeze is so busy it don't miss a tree,
And an ol' Weepin' Willer is laughin' at me.

Repeat chorus