Cat
We have a new cat … new to us …. two years old and big as cats go. We no sooner opened the box we carried him in than he made for the basement. We looked everywhere, behind this and under that. He ate his food when we weren’t around and didn’t show a whisker…
Daniel
I’d volunteered at the food bank long enough to know Daniel was a regular. Daniel was no talker, though I’d tried a number of times. No matter what I’d say, Daniel just nodded. One day I asked if there were any children at home. Daniel held up two fingers. I asked, “Girls or boys?” Daniel…
Basecamp
On a hot summer day in Louisville, Kentucky I sought shade and cool water in an Episcopal church. I saw there a book, Radical Sending, Go To Love and Serve.* I bought a copy. The authors understand the church as a “basecamp,” a refuge where we are refreshed and made ready, and from which we…
Vienna
My work took me to Vienna, Austria. I had scarce time to sightsee but set out one evening to walk about the city. I found everything closed. It was a national holiday. Disappointed, I wandered about. I turned down an alley to return to my hotel. Halfway down stood a policeman. He commanded me, “Stop!”…
Muddle
I have an ongoing correspondence with an imprisoned man and we agree: The world is a muddle. How are we to live in it? His is a world chock-full of violence and unkindness. His answer is Biblical: “If you are a good person, you should do stuff about justice, always be kind and walk humble.”…
Vaccination
As a boy, I recall getting a vaccination when we lived in the West Indies. I don’t recall why it was necessary, but everyone on the island lined up to receive the injection. We went to a doctor’s office. The waiting area was full but we were seen by the doctor in short order. He…
Conversation
I saw him most mornings in the entryway of the store where I buy my newspaper. I’d nod and he’d nod. We moved on to casual greetings and, in time, to brief conversations. He had a bed with bath privileges: In by 8:00 o’clock in the evening and out by 8:00 o’clock in the morning….
Crucifix
Long ago, a New England town, Main Street, ramshackle second-hand store. I entered … old tools, chipped china, photo albums of long ago families. Nothing I needed but, in a wooden box, a jumble of old hymnals, rosary beads, magnetic dashboard figurines. Deep within, a well-worn crucifix, six inches long, metal with inlaid wood. I…
Jukebox
Long ago … at a tavern … a jukebox … one song … over and over. Bartender Kenny, dime after dime, same song, again and again … Loretta Lynn’s, “The screen door’s a-bangin’, coffee’s boilin’ over and the wash needs a-hangin’.” The jukebox man came weekly, saw how many times that one song played and…
25 Cents
Quoting Fred Craddock, a remarkable preacher, about giving our lives to Jesus: “We think that giving our all to the Lord is like taking a $1,000.00 bill and laying it on the table — “Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all.” But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to…
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.
