The first Sunday

Ruby Hayes

— 2 min read
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Watercolor of a screened porch with a sleeping dog on the floor, a wicker chair, a glass of water on the railing, the screen door ajar, and a vegetable garden and fields beyond.

"O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever." — Psalm 107:1

The first Sunday of September and the pews were fuller than they have been since June.

Not full. Trinity does not get full except at Easter and Christmas and the occasional funeral that draws the whole town. But fuller. The Hendersons were back. The Dawsons brought their daughter who has been away at school. Mrs. Patterson was in her usual spot with her fan, which she will carry until November regardless of the temperature. Edna was there, looking stronger than she did in July, which I was glad to see. Pastor Holloway looked rested, which is a word I do not often use for pastors at the start of the program year, but he did. Something in his face this morning was lighter than it has been.

The hymn was "Great Is Thy Faithfulness." The third verse, the one about strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, and I sang it and meant it and the meaning was enough. I do not always mean the hymns when I sing them. Some Sundays I sing because singing is what you do and the meaning catches up later, the way understanding catches up to obedience. But this morning I meant it. This morning the words were true when they came out of my mouth and I could feel them being true, which is a gift I do not take for granted.

I drove home with the windows down and the air coming through the car was September air, which is a thing you can feel but not explain. Cooler. Thinner. Carrying something in it that August air does not carry, a brightness that has nothing to do with the sun. I pulled into the driveway and let Biscuit out and sat on the back porch with a glass of water and the yard was green and quiet and the morning was done.

There is not much to say about this morning except that it was good. The church was good. The hymn was good. The drive was good. The air was good. I am sitting here giving thanks for a Sunday that did not require anything of me except that I show up and sing and drive home and sit on the porch and notice that the world is good and that I am in it and that this is enough.

Lord, for a good and ordinary Sunday, I give thanks.