Father Hutchins
A young man, I attended the Episcopal Church where Father Hutchins was priest. One Sunday, invited to the rectory for dinner, Mrs. Hutchins opened the door. We walked toward the kitchen and there was Father Hutchins, flat on his back on the living room floor, still wearing his collar, eyes closed, listening to Mozart on…
Fast Food
My parents ate once at McDonald’s. It was confusing … pay first … find table … carry food … bus table … but they allowed it wasn’t the worst meal they’d ever eaten. I ate my first fast food in California when I was 19. A day laborer, I spent a morning digging trenches for…
Listening
I go to the homeless shelter to visit the men, to listen and encourage. I’ve made friends there. Last week, Ray was fuming. A new shelter rule infuriated him and someone had looted his knapsack. I listened. I encouraged … but I was an easy target. Ray seemed angry at me. I left without a…
Sanctuary
Norman always sat in a pew up front. He knew the words to the hymns and the first names of most Sunday regulars. One day after the service I spoke with Norman. He said that in matters of faith, “I have more questions than I have answers.” He shared with me about his busy professional…
Practice
As a boy, I took lessons on an old hand-me-down flute. Everyone told me, “Practice every day!” I most assuredly did not. Decades later, I heard a man play a flute so beautifully, so effortlessly, that I rummaged through closets, boxes and bureaus to find that old flute. Now, I am trying again. I practice…
The Least
Maundy Thursday: “The disciples were keenly aware that someone needed to wash the others’ feet. The problem was that the only people who washed feet were the least. So there they sat, feet caked with dirt. It was such a sore point that they were not even going to talk about it. No one wanted…
Money owed
My father, a stockbroker in the 1930’s, had a client of low repute … a hoodlum, some would say … who owed the brokerage firm money. The man came into my father’s office with two bodyguards. They closed the door and stood. “What’s this I hear? I owe you money?” Nervously pointing to the ledger,…
Tangerine
We gathered around a table in the cafeteria of the men’s shelter. There were a dozen homeless men, some volunteers and a few college students. I brought tangerines and passed them around. I saw the college kid throw the tangerine. It arced across the room, hit the far wall near the trashcan and fell to…
Investment
My mother was an artist. I was a boy when she won the $500.00 “Best Oil Painting” prize at the Ohio State Fair. She thought long and hard about where to invest her prize money so that, one day, she would have “a little something set aside.” Her brother was a stockbroker and he was…
Fast Food
A disheveled old man sat in a booth of the fast-food joint. As I walked by he asked, “Can you help me?” I kept walking. I ordered my usual but with an extra burger. I paid and started out but stopped to ask the old man, “Hungry? Want a burger?” He looked at the burger…
Did You Know? – Deacon Josh
The Rev. Josh Butler is a Vocational Deacon in the Diocese of Ohio.
It is the deacon who ends the service, dismissing the congregation to go out in the community to serve. In his Deacon’s Dismissal, Josh offers reflections to strengthen and inspire us in our call to service.
