Chores
I had chores as a kid. I took out the trash and I cut the grass. Frequently, I was dispatched to my grandmother’s home, not far away, to adjust her TV. The same problem generally occurred at the start of Disney or Lawrence Welk. The “horizontal hold” or “vertical roll” on her black and white…
Be of good cheer
I hereby bid 2019 a hearty “Adieu!” … that’s French … à dieu … to God! Adieu, 2019! You weren’t much fun … not the best year … sad in many ways. In the year ahead, to one and all, I will say, “Be of good cheer!” With God’s beneficence, “Be of good cheer!” will brighten the day of…
Solstice
The sun rises late this time of year. Nine hours daylight, the sun descends, we are in darkness again. This lack of light weighs upon me, more now than once, for the workings of the world are askew, enmity is abroad, and I long for the return of light. The days will grow longer and,…
Sweep
In my early twenties, I took a job in a machine shop. I was low man on the totem pole save for the old man who swept the floor and redd up the shop. One day, I got myself into a mess on what should have been a simple job. I felt the sidelong glances…
U-Haul
She’d been with him 20 years but whatever fire and energy had kept them together was all but gone. On a snowy January day, she packed what was hers into a U-Haul trailer, hitched it to her old Jeep station wagon and started west toward Seattle. She had a daughter there who was none too…
Understanding
I found a jewel in a book on preaching: “One may become a Living Parable as one’s life becomes more and more conformed to the life of Jesus, so that one’s life both instructs and puzzles the wider society. Parabolic living and witnessing to the gospel give us the power to transform to lives.”* Imagine a life where accidents…
Museum
I sat a bench at the Cleveland Museum of Art that I might spend time, as I am wont, with the Schlagl Altarpiece. I was alone for a while until a young couple entered into the gallery. They held hands, they laughed, flirted and made their way around the room. Coming upon the Schlagl Altarpiece,…
Garbage
I might’ve said, “Is there anything I can do to help you?” He said, “I can get the garbage out to the porch but I can’t get it to the curb.” Every Thursday morning his trash bags wait for me on his porch and I tote them to the curb. I do a pretty fair…
Air conditioning
The old car was a beater … rusty … passenger window stuck shut … muffler didn’t muffle much and the radio didn’t radio at all … but it mostly ran OK. A friend needed to get to Boston in a hurry. I handed him the key and he drove on the hottest day of the…
Certainty
It may be the times we live in. People seem so certain … of everything! It’s contagious! A friend said to me, “I wish I could be as certain of just one thing as you are of everything!” I needed to hear that. I’m learning to let go. Stand down. Give ground. Hold my peace….
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.
