Dismissals

Sister Kathleen taught chemistry in Catholic high schools. Years passed, enrollment declined, and Sister Kathleen found herself idle. Mother Superior called her in and said, “We will start an inner-city, after-school tutoring and mentoring program for the children of AIDS and HIV mothers. You will be the director.” Sister Kathleen was fearful and unsure but with prayer her confidence increased. When the program started, Sister Kathleen was comfortable and in command. The program remains successful but Sister Kathleen handed over the reins when Mother Superior called on her to tackle the problem of the neighborhood drug dealers. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

Whether the journey is earthly or spiritual, there are many ways to navigate. I once met a sailor in a distant port who was singlehandedly circumnavigating the world. He had no sextant or GPS with which to find his way to the next port. He had only a compass and binoculars. At night he followed the stars. When daylight came, he followed the track of the commercial airliners as they left their plumes of vapor in the sky. I have not found airliners to be helpful in my own spiritual travels, but a star to steer by is a wonderful thing. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

Long ago, with my third grade class, I visited the local television station. We saw the set of our favorite after school program, Bob’s Clubhouse. Bob told jokes and showed serialized films including my favorite about a forgotten land of dinosaurs. We saw the desk of sportscaster Don Gardner. With four, full glasses of milk at the front edge of his desk, Don Gardner reminded parents that kids should drink four glasses of whole milk every day. I peered into the glasses. Empty! They were painted white on the inside! After that, not even the dinosaurs seemed real. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

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 … a worker on the third shift looks at the clock … homeless men forage in dumpsters as garbage trucks roll from their garage … somewhere, not so very far away, in a small chapel lit by candles, nuns kneel before the figure of Our Lord, beginning their day ~ and ours ~ with prayer. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

My Godmother Maria called me. Maria has not been well. At age 91, small afflictions wear her down. At 92, Godfather Juan has his own aches and pains. Maria and Juan stay with their son, Antonio, a physician. Also in the home is Antonio’s wife, Carla. Antonio and Carla’s only child, a thirteen year old daughter, died years ago of a preventable accident. Despondent beyond words, Carla took to her bed and seldom stirred. When Maria became ill, Carla rose from her bed, doting on Maria as Carla had once doted on her daughter. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

In my twenties, I co-owned a television store. We sold Zeniths and Quasars, consoles and portables, black and whites and the very latest in Color Television. On the banks of the St. Lawrence River, far from the city, there was only one TV channel. Every weekday at 4 o’clock Mr. Rogers was on every TV in the store. I was young and full of beans and Mr. Rogers drove me crazy! Still, slowly, over time, surrounded by all those televisions, I hummed along with “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” I followed the doings in the “Neighborhood of Make-Believe.” When my own sons were growing up, we had only one television, but I appreciated Mr. Rogers all the more. Go in…

Of late, my prayers sound more like those of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. For Tevye, life is hard and unfair yet Tevye prays to God as if to an old friend. Tevye is a dairyman with a lame horse and prays as he pulls his cart through the mud. The antisemitism of Czarist Russia will soon send Tevye and his family fleeing for their lives. Tevye challenges God to act and questions God when God does not. In prayer, Tevye gives voice to his heart. Tevye speaks, God listens, and together God and Tevye take the road out of Russia. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

Late one summer afternoon, as I sat on my front stoop, my neighbor came home from work. As Steve often did, he sat in his car and surveyed his lawn. If there was one long blade of grass anywhere, Steve would get his mower. That day, while Steve mowed, his daughter came home from school. As she left her car for the house, a pack of cigarettes fell to the ground. When Steve saw the cigarettes, he stopped his mower and walked slowly to his daughter’s car. He picked up the cigarettes and stood holding them for a long while. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

I was talking with a friend about 150 mph trains. We don’t have them in this country. I wish we did. I traveled on such a train from Paris to London. Looking out the window at the countryside, the impression of speed recalled Wile E. Coyote chasing The Road Runner… the clouds in the background whooshing past. My friend had lived in Japan where trains go 200 mph. Yet, as the trains approach Mount Fuji, they slow down so passengers can take in the beauty of Japan’s iconic mountain. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

At gatherings where food was free, wherever canapés and a punch bowl were set upon a table, one couple was always there, eating from whatever the groaning-board had to offer. I spoke to them occasionally. I never knew their names but everyone called them Bush and Honeybun. Bush was unshaven and wore the same tweed jacket no matter the season. Honeybun wore vivid, mismatched outfits, smiled but seldom spoke. Some people greeted them, some scowled. One evening, a subdued Bush stood alone, hands in his pockets. Someone asked him, “Where’s that girlfriend of yours, what’s her name? Honeybun?” Bush leveled his eyes at the man and said evenly, “Alice. Her name was Alice Bush.” Bush turned away and stood by…

My grandfather’s brother Miles was the night watchman at the dynamite factory. Miles drank to excess and seldom had the wherewithal to feed himself. Miles came daily to my grandfather’s home for a meal and spare change. One night, a terrible explosion. Pieces of the dynamite factory rained down on the city. The family, certain that his intemperate life was the cause of the catastrophe, took a few minutes to mourn Miles then counted themselves lucky to be done with him. Alas, that night had been Miles’s night off. In the morning, Miles came by for breakfast, though Miles never drank again, so fortunate did he consider himself. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

He was maybe 14, a neighborhood kid looking for work. He said he could wash my car so I gave him a bucket, soap, rags and a sponge, pulled out the hose and let him get to it. Time passed. He banged on the door and said he was finished. I looked. The dirt on my car had been rearranged but I didn’t think highly of the workmanship. I told him so but gave him his price and sent him off. Twenty minutes later, a knock. The boy stood on the stoop and beside him a man. He said, “My son says you weren’t happy with his work.” The boy looked down, the man looked at me and I wondered…