I sat in the swing this morning marveling at all the beauty in my neighborhood — the zinnias and cosmoses dancing in the soft cool breezes, the subtle greens and reds of the last tomatoes on the fall vines, the colorful plumage of the songbirds, the bright yellows and vivid oranges of the cloudless sulfurs and monarch butterflies, the deep blue of the fall sky. As the organ bell wind chimes across the street struck up a soft hymn, I said a prayer for those who are lost and suffering on this beautiful day. The world just keeps on spinning as chaos rages in the lives of those affected by the recent hurricanes. They need our prayers. The world needs our prayers.

Oldest brother came by for a visit this afternoon telling me tales of his dog, Bear. He has chewed up and dragged off everything oldest brother has on his porch. Even managed to put a hole in the window unit air conditioning panels so he could stick his nose through and watch his daddy watch tv. I think the fly swatter came off the hook then.

I sat on the porch most of the day reading. The day started off as a winter morning, changed to fall, then summer burst through mid-afternoon. It got hot on the porch. But I’m loving these cool fall nights and mornings. I love sleeping at night with my bedroom windows open, hearing the nighttime orchestra of katydids and crickets and frogs and owls, all singing their love songs trying to attract a lover and every morning hearing that loud “chirp, chirp” of the early bird sounding his morning alarm. He wakes me to the sunrise streaming down through the bamboo forest.

The sunset toasted the day’s ending with a crystal champagne flute of Louis Roederer Cristal Rose, spilling the champagne’s pale pink deliciousness all across the horizon as the shadows of a romantic dusk chased the day’s light away. Father Sky kissed the sun goodnight and gave a toast to the gloaming with a quote from Umair Siddiqui, “May every sunrise hold more promise and every sunset hold more peace.”

I think we all crave God’s peace in our lives. Scripture says, “…the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” We need to ask God for peace through our prayers and thanksgiving, turning all our worries and burdens over to him. The closer we come to God the more peace we’ll experience in our lives. In my spiritual life I trust God and walk in my faith. If I can’t control it or change it, I turn it over to God and clean my mind of those burdens. Not all burdens are heavy, the small worries can disturb our peace and nothing is too trivial to take to God in prayer. He has room to carry all our worries.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 4:6-7

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.” — Albert Einstein