Antigua
I was idling at my computer, wasting time. I typed my name, Joseph G. Butler, into Ancestry, hit the “go” button and sorted through. One remarkable document stood out: A 1962 immigration form, written in my father’s unmistakable hand … Pan American flight 220 from Antigua, West Indies to New York City. I was then…
Morning
In the wee hours, a dog barks and I awaken. Others, elsewhere, are up … firefighters carry an old lady from a third floor walkup … dough rising, a baker lights her ovens … a police officer takes a call from a worried mother … at the water plant, engineers with clipboards check gauges … …
Linda
How I met my Linda: Being too old to cruise Main Street in my hotrod, I joined a dating website. I paid the fee, loaded a few photos that made me look handsome, and filled in the bio. Then I perused the online photos of refined ladies but only one took my breath away. I…
Typewriter
I was in my apartment, clickety-clack typing on my 1946 Royal typewriter when there came a knock at my door. A neighbor, passing in the hall, heard me typing. “Is that a typewriter?” she asked. She looked at it. “That can’t be a typewriter! Why would anyone use a typewriter?” She did not wait for…
Mechanic
I once believed that I could fix the world’s ills if I would only advocate for change … protest … petition … stand strong against injustice. It wasn’t nearly enough. Now, I confront life’s smaller problems … one at a time. A man named Baba Amte worked with lepers in India. Baba’s metaphor for his ministry was…
Piety
A little leather-bound book, in French, published 1802, titled Exercices de Piété [Exercises in Piety]. My Aunt inscribed the flyleaf, “Bought at a book stall along the Seine, 1935-1936.” She translated the first paragraph, “How you will act the rest of your life and also the habits which are formed – either will lead you…
Fall short
I can’t recall quite where we met. I see him from time to time, here and there. I always like being in his company. He has an equable disposition and nothing much riles him. He has strong opinions yet expresses them evenhandedly. He’s OK with it when I don’t agree, though mostly I do. He’s…
Letter
A letter is a tolerable substitute for a visit. If I can’t visit, I write. I have an old Royal typewriter to help me. I roll in a bit of paper, type with two fingers, sometimes 30 words a minute. If you look up the word “visit,” you’ll find there’s some heft to it: To…
Dining
The lady is elegant, dressed to the nines. We are a ragtag bunch, cooking and serving a monthly Sunday meal in the parish hall for any hungry folks who might show up. She comes to every meal, but arrives as the meal is ending. We know her well and greet her warmly. As the other…
Spare change
Standing in the checkout line at a chain pharmacy, two girls just ahead of me clutched donuts, peanuts, chips, candy bars, and a crumply five dollar bill. Their items scanned, they were 35 cents short. “You can put something back,” said the cashier. The line shuffled. The girls looked at each other. Then, good luck!…
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.
