Dawn Chorus

What do you like to do in the mornings? Ever since I brought Maggie home, my mornings have changed dramatically. There was a time when I enjoyed sleeping late, waking up and staggering downstairs for a cup of coffee as I watched the morning news. Sometimes I'd sit out on the front porch, coffee in hand as I'd stare out at the morning dew watching the cars pass the parsonage on their way to work. Seldom would I ever be as awake as I am now.

NowI wake up early, with Maggie licking my face telling me to get up. Usually this is around 6:00 AM. Before I take her for a walk, I make a pot of coffee so that when I return, I have a hot cup of vanilla or hazelnut cup waiting for me. By the time I return from our walk, I am wide awake. Lately, when I sit on the porch, I don't notice the cars passing the house as much as I see the clear morning or hear the last visages of the dawn chorus: a few birds winding down their morning songs. I am becoming an early riser who actually enjoys rising early.

I know that I am not alone. Many of you are early risers too. To help celebrate the morning, we will be offering an opportunity to do just that. Beginning on Wednesday, October 3 at 7:30 AM, a brief communion, liturgy, and prayer will be offered at the church. Afterwards, coffee will be served (it might also be offered before the service too, ).

You know, there are generations after generations of Christians who have used the early mornings to meditate and celebrate God. Looking as far back as Jesus, the originally early riser, we can learn the benefit of participating in a Garden of Gethsemane of our own. Let me invite you to join with us for a peaceful time of reflection and praise next Wednesday morning. And, if we're lucky, we might hear the dawn chorus beckoning us to praise God as they do, in the wee hours of the morning.