When I rise. . .

Enjoying a quiet moment on my front porch this morning.  A robin stopped by to drink from the bird bath, also a woodpecker hopped by.  The gold finches have been in and out the last few days enjoying the bird feeder.  They are so flighty.
The street in front of my house is quite a path for walkers and joggers who like to go out to the Park.  The heat kept me from enjoying much this summer, but maybe now that the temperatures seem to have cooled off I will get more ambition.
I can tell fall is in the air.  The ornamental grasses in my yard are really doing their 'thing' as the summer flowers begin to wane a little.  I still have a load of blossoms on my strawberry hydrangea and I have been bringing them in little by little to dry them.  The church has a bazaar in a couple of weeks and I thought perhaps they might be able to sell a few of the larger stalks.
I was thinking this morning as I was moving around to start the day, that I have seen more of a community in living motion this past week.  Last Friday I had my first time of jury duty.  I was usually excused when I was teaching school and pastoring, but now my time has come.  It was neither a long case or a tough case, but I could tell from the folks on the jury that no one was enjoying passing judgment.  The law is the law and that is what we were called to interpret, but regardless of the verdict someone is going to be in trouble for years to come.  I believe that for the most part, no one wants to see anyone in trouble.
Then last night was city council.  A local citizen, brought an issue before the council, with some heat in her voice.  I am still the new kid on the block in that venue so I was not privy to the history of the issue.  She was listened to and thanked for her views.  She had a legitimate point.  To satisfy myself I am going to have to do a little more questioning.
So it was community life in action.  Shortly I am going to our Circle of Prayer at church.  We meet weekly and have a long list of people we pray for and who solicit our prayers.  It is practicing the gift of intercessory prayer, something the world is much in need of.