Dismissals

A food pantry, long line at the door, each patron will get one brown paper bag with vegetables, canned goods, maybe a quart of milk, and paper products that food stamps won’t buy (toilet paper!). Miriam, with a clipboard, checks everyone in. Some are fearful or just plain ashamed to say their name. For each who pauses to draw a breath before they can say their name, Miriam writes in her big scrawl “Chesed” and sends them on. There were many people named Chesed that day. It’s a good name, don’t you think? Hebrew, it means Grace and Loving Kindness. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

In Dublin, with time to spare, a friend invited me to Castlebar in County Mayo. Early next morning I made my way to the station. I found the County Mayo train. On an empty car, I pulled my hat low and fell asleep. Then, as if in a dream, the car filled with nuns. Black and white habits and rosaries were everywhere. Nuns sat next to me and across from me. They said, “This is our pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock in County Mayo!” They prayed the rosary, shared their food with me and showed me sights as the train moved west across Ireland. Many times they sang a lilting song telling the story of Our Lady…

My Dad was up at 5 a.m., sitting at the kitchen table, coffee percolating on the stove, writing letters and postcards to all manner and condition of people. When I left home, he wrote to me often, about the weather and this and that. I have those cards and letters somewhere in a box and I need to read them over. Truth is, I didn’t pay them much mind at the time, too busy was I with my own life. I expect it was good for my Dad to write to me about the hometown team and my mother’s condition and how my grandmother might like to get a ‘postal’ from me whenever I could find the time. Now I…

In my twenties, I took my first fearful step into an Episcopal Church. I liked the pew at the back. I liked the Book of Common Prayer and the music was OK. And nice windows. But what was this Communion business, anyway? When it was that time, I stayed in my seat. Once at a Wednesday potluck, seated around folding tables, all stood as Father Hutchins said the words of the Eucharistic Prayer. He started at my table with the bread and wine. This was it … no way out … the Bread of Heaven … the Cup of Salvation … my first communion. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

It was cold out and I had the heater turned way up on that old Plymouth Fury police cruiser. Round and round the village I went, a quiet night until I chanced to stop by the laundromat. A man sat on a milk crate, his bare legs sticking out from a poncho he had pulled tight around him. I asked him, “Watcha doin’?” He tilted his head. “Only clothes I got is in there.” A few threadbare bits of cloth spun around in the dryer. I dropped a dime in the payphone and asked the chief what I ought to do with this desperado. Chief told me to hold the fort, he’d be over directly. The chief came with an…

My father bought extras stamps at the post office and kept them for their history and their beauty … hundreds of tiny, engraved images of America’s past. These stamps are mine now, though I did not know quite what to do with them … 10 cent Bicentennial, 8 cent Lyndon B. Johnson, 13 cent Alexander Graham Bell. They are faded and a little curled at the edges but they can still carry a letter to the far reaches of the world … a 2 cent Frank Lloyd Wright, a 4 cent Overland Mail … I paste them on an envelope and recollect my father. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

When Fred was a boy, his father caught him loafing on a Saturday. Fred was handed a paintbrush and a soup can half full of paint and sent street-side to paint the mailbox. That rusty mailbox began to look pretty good so Fred painted the neighbor’s mailbox. Fred became a professional painter but he’s retired now. No more high ladders for Fred. Now he leads parishioners into inner-city neighborhoods to help poor homeowners keep up their homes. Fred and the church crew paint porches, doors, windows, steps, railings and fences. If there’s a mailbox, Fred does that himself. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

The Magic of Thanksgiving: The table is set with crystal and silver, dessert on the sideboard, fixings and trimmings all in their place. A joyful family gives a hearty Amen! to the prayer offered by Grandpa. The kitchen door swings wide, Grandma enters holding a perfect turkey on a platter. Another step, her slipper catches on the rug and the turkey takes flight (they say it flew six feet!) and rolls several times across the carpet. Grandma, red-faced but unhurt, slides the turkey back onto the platter, stands and says, “I’ll be right back.” She disappears into the kitchen. Minutes pass. The hungry family looks at the kitchen door. At last it opens. Grandma, holding high a perfect turkey, says,…

Stone Soup: A traveler comes into a gathering of hungry people sitting around a fire. “Put water in a pot and I will make Stone Soup!” The water boils and the man adds the stone. “Good … but if only we had a few carrots, it would excel!” Someone has carrots and they are added. “Stone Soup is even tastier with a few potatoes!” Potatoes are found and put into the pot … so, too, vegetables, spices and finally a little meat. Everyone eats and marvels. My father told me this ancient story a thousand times and I see great promise in it. Try it! A small, smooth river-stone is ideal, but any stone will do. Begin with a prayer…