And the even sweeter incense of the prayers of saints swirling upward.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 1:23

Lord our God, We thank You that we can be without fear of sin and death, for You stand by us in everything, in spite of our imperfections you show us Your goodness again and again. May the light in our hearts never be extinguished, the light that enables us to look into heaven and earth and see the good that is on its way to us today. May joy remain with us, and may we have the strength to be a community that follows the paths of life which bring praise and honor to You. Amen.

Community.

 

Community in right relationship with God, one another and creation.

What a blessing and honor to be in community.

As we walk down the tattered streets, trying to avoid the algae streams of grey water and clambering ungracefully over clumps of concrete and broken tiles, Deb and Char point out a good shoe shop and where the librarian lives,

Occasionally a white car veers to one side of the narrow roads, and a woman will hop out and given them big hugs and the four kisses that begin every conversation: one cheek, the other cheek, first cheek, and once again the other cheek.

And now I have a list of nine middle and high school science teachers. And I am going to go back and read last year’s stories holding that list in my hand. Although one of last year’s teachers left yesterday to go be a translator in the Mosul camps for the medical teams.

And I think that I am going to open how I always open, with Mr. Bowen’s “Draw a scientist” assignment because not only does it open up the idea of Inquiry, but it opens up so many discussions as to what a scientist really is, what is science and where do we want to land in three weeks. Backwards planning.

And we are about to do a quick clean, the sweeping and mopping and scrubbing toilets that are part of community as well. And then I will pop over to the Babylon market with a shopping list for making the granola out of that one cookbook I still own: More with Less. And Char thinks that there is no way I could ever get lost. Just turn right, then left, cross the street, then left, past the coffee shop and the fruit stand. Ha. The city power is off again, but the diesel generator is roaring and the swamp cooler with freshly changed pads is blasting, and it is a new day.

Tonight I am going to English mass, led by Father Douglas (with his very own Wikipedia page) that does not even begin to describe the light and joy roiling around this wry, humble man. Before then, I have a chunking to do list as I sort through IB units, lesson plans and test scores. And 3 x 5 cards with neatly printed names, Mr. Chamberlin’s flash cards to help me wrap my floundering mind around all of these names and faces and positions and stories. It all starts tomorrow. Sunday is the first day of the week.

Community.

And actually my gmail inbox and Instagram account is full of community as well. Sweet notes of cheer and goodness describing making peach pies with Otto and reading Winnie the Pooh and Chaim Potek and Sentential Peak is still burning from the Fourth of July fireworks and my brother is still dealing with swamp coolers of his own while all of Tucson waits for the promised rains. And the even sweeter incense of the prayers of saints swirling upward.

What a blessing and honor to be in community.

May we have the strength to be a community that follows the paths of life which bring praise and honor to You.