Dismissals

There is an old joke about a man who prays daily, “God! Please, please, let me win the lottery! Please!” This goes on for years until, one night, kneeling by his bed, praying to win the lottery, the thunderous voice of God cries out, “At least buy a ticket!” And so we go into the world in search of that ticket. We find instead that we are agents of God’s Love and Mercy and no ticket is needed. Go in peace to love and serve The Lord! Josh

Every week at coffee hour, years ago in another church, a man would pour himself a cup, take a few cookies and sit at an empty table. I figured him a curmudgeon and thought it a kindness to sit with him. We had a delightful conversation and then, at last, I asked him why he never sat with anyone. “Oh,” he said, “I never know who will come sit with me. I like that. Today it’s you!” Go in peace to love and serve The Lord! Josh

As a boy, I spent time with my grandmother. In her hallway, a small wooden stand with a rotary dial telephone. When it rang, the first and second ring elicited no response from Grandma. On the third or fourth ring, she set aside her reading or knitting … Fifth …. Sixth ring, she levered herself from her chair … Seven … Eight … Nine … Grandma stood next to the telephone …. Ten … Grandma picked up the receiver, “Hello?” I asked her why she waited until the tenth ring. “If I answer any sooner, people come to expect it. I will not be made to race about.” Go in peace to love and serve The Lord! Josh

I live in an apartment. My windows all face east. There is no view to the west. Storms and clouds, wind and rain, the brightening sky after the rain, all are blown across the land by the west wind. Most days, I see from my windows not what is coming, but what already is. “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.” [John3:8a] Go in peace to love and and serve The Lord! Josh

In this week’s New Yorker, an article titled “No Time … How Did We Get So Busy?” We have so much to do, so little time. How might we slow down, find time to think, to do nothing, to journal, meditate, keep watch or simply pray? Beautiful – and very short – Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families are in our Book of Common Prayer. There are four: Morning, Noon, Evening and Close of Day. As a remedy for harried and hectic, start the day at page 137, end the day with page 140. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh Daily Devotions: In the Morning At Noon In the Early Evening At the Close of Day

Among the rich traditions of our Episcopal Church is the Daily Office, prayers and scripture for family and personal devotions. In The Book of Common Prayer, beginning on page 934, readings from scripture are set out for every day of the week, in a two year cycle. The pamphlet Day by Day lists the scripture for each day with a short (about 150 words) reflection. From today’s scripture readings, the words and phrases that have leapt to greet me …. Leviticus: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 1st Thessalonians: “Admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak.” Matthew: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” And so the day begins, thanks be to God!…

I have been driving through Kentucky and Tennessee, reading signs and billboards as I go. A sign in front of a church said: “Spring is here and God is all around us!” I wanted to turn around and add an asterisk to that sign: “God was here all winter, too!” I kept driving. Then I saw another sign: “Josh! Chill out! That was a nice sign! Enjoy Springtime!” Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

This from a letter received by a man in prison: “I expect to change the world today, not with grand gestures or mighty acts but with a dry bone to a hungry dog, a dime and a listening ear to a beggar, a kind word to someone who has not heard a kind word in a long time. Now you are to do these works while you are in prison: Feed the scraps of your own meager meal to the stray cats who come up to your window. In your prayers and dreams, beg forgiveness of those whom you have injured, tend to their wounds and listen to them, they have something to say to you. And to those in…

My friend had never been east of the Mississippi. He got out of his car and said: “I wanted to avoid highway construction so I bought a map that shows where they’re working. I avoided those roads. This morning, the lady at the hotel told me to drive up on this one road, she said she drove it every day and it didn’t have any construction. I drove that road and it was beautiful. Then I studied that map. Those marks don’t mean construction. Those marks mean it’s a scenic highway! I’ll get a second chance on my way home.” Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!Josh

Alleluia! Let us Praise the Lord! From our lips to God’s ear, an Alleluia does not meander at the speed of sound or traipse through the cosmos at the mere speed of light. God may stand next to us at the bus stop or be in some faraway galaxy yet, in a twinkling, our Alleluia goes straight to God’s ear. God, ever busy in the care of Creation, hears every tear as it falls and every shout of Alleluia! At each Alleluia, God pauses, nods, smiles and presses on. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Josh

I walked through the sunlit Atrium of the Cleveland Museum of Art to the lower level of the old museum. There I wandered among medieval artifacts of our faith: Icons, reliquaries, chalices, patens, processional crosses and altars. In the dark and cool of that space I sat on a wooden bench before a mid-1400s altarpiece, painted in exquisite detail by an artist known only as “Master of the Schlagl Altarpiece.” There are nine, sequential panels that tell the story of the Passion of Christ, from prayer in the garden, trial, crucifixion to descent from the cross. I sat on that bench for a long time. People came and went: A school tour, an art student sketching, a guard who stood…