Prioritizing What Matters Most

Reading Hukam in the Mornings

This reflection originally published with Interfaith America’s series titled For Such a Time as This (Esther 4:14): Spiritual Practices to Ground & Center.

Every morning, after we brush our teeth and change our clothes, our family gathers in the prayer room. We offer a collective prayer (ardas), and then we sit together before our Scripture (Guru Granth Sahib) and open it up for the day (parkash).

We open to a random page—somewhere in the middle of the text—and we read from the first composition that appears on the top left of the page. Sikhs refer to this as hukam, or hukamnama, and consider it to be a message to reflect on and try to live by throughout the day.

I used to listen to the hukam with my parents growing up in Texas, and they used to listen to it with their parents growing up in South Asia.

Sikhs around the world engage in this tradition too, some reading in their own homes, some reading translations on their phones or computers, some listening to the hukamnama from significant gurdwaras on television or on the radio. There’s something about knowing this is a shared tradition that makes me feel connected to my community all over the world.

There’s also something special about using this tradition as a way to help connect my daughters with their heritage. Each Sunday, we take them to school at the gurdwara (place of worship) to learn about their tradition and heritage, which has been a magical experience for our kids and for us as parents. And, as our head of school reminds us frequently, once a week isn’t enough.

Real learning happens through daily practice at home. I’ve loved that reminder, and we’ve tried to take it seriously through disciplined practice.

For a couple of years now, we’ve been using our daily routine of hukamnama as a way for them to practice reading Gurmukhi (the script in which Sikh scripture is written), and a time to connect with Sikh writings and teachings. I’ll be honest and say it required a lot of patience at first. They would read so slowly that we could only get through a few words at a time.

As the months went by, they got stronger. They would read a line, and then two lines, and then maybe three. And recently, we’ve gotten to a place where they can read the entire shabad (hymn, sacred song).

It’s still slow, and they still make mistakes, but this morning ritual has become one of my daily highlights. I can’t think of another way I’d rather start my morning then sharing with my girls what I love most.

I also love that reading with them slows me down. Too often, when I’m in my own daily routines, I rush through them, almost like I just need to check the boxes so I can move on.

I don’t love that feeling, but I often justify the hurry, telling myself that I have more urgent priorities to address and that I’ll slow down tomorrow. But then tomorrow comes, or the next day—and there are always more activities and more excuses.

We’ve been teaching our girls that reading hukamnama is a top priority and that it’s a critical part of our morning routine: To get our day off on the right foot, to center what’s most important for us, to get our minds in the right place as we begin our days. As I’ve been trying to impart this to my kids through daily practice, I’m realizing this has also been a valuable daily practice for me, and for all the same reasons.

I love this little tradition of ours, and I love how it makes me feel more grounded and centered, especially in times of tumult and upheaval. I hope this is how my girls experience it, too, now and into the future.

This reflection originally published with Interfaith America’s series titled For Such a Time as This (Esther 4:14): Spiritual Practices to Ground & Center.