I'm getting ready to run down to the Heritage High School for the first first football game of the season. I don't know anyone playing on the football team, but my daughter Claire is in the Marching Band.

The Marching Band.

It reminds me of my own school days. Not the Marching Band. But the beginning of a new school year. Every September was a fresh start. After a too-long summer, September comes with the promise of new friends, new adventures, and a little learning along the way.

The parish participants in this turn of Seasons. We have a liturgical calendar that begins on the first Sunday of Advent -- normally in December. But everyone knows the real calendar begins in September.

School starts. The weather cools. Routines kick in.

Folk who have taken the "summer off" return to church. Other folk who have caught the spirit of a new season explore the possibility of finding a church. The Sabbath-keepers look forward to worship filling up again with seekers, slackers, and the silently hopeful.

As it should be.

My hope is that as the new season begins new friends will be made. New adventures will be had. And we all will learn a little something along the way.