Povey Prattle

Some folks say that cats have a mind of their own. I disagree. Cats have at least three minds of their own! Ada, the older cat is becoming much more affectionate. She will actively seek out my company. The other day she sat on my desk chair, on top of the back of the chair, whilst I worked on my computer. She was happily perched on no more than four inches wide by two feet long. And she will “bat” me with her paw when she needs attention. When I take her to the Lanai, she is fine as long as I hold her and caress her. But as soon as I let her free she retreats to my bedroom and hides under my bed until I entice her out with a cat snack. Adelaide is “Miss Independent”. She wanders all over my home, always seeking something new. I had friends in for lunch today and I mentioned that neither of the cats ever jump up on laps. Whereupon Adelaide jumped up on to the laps of first Kay, and then Ben. Adelaide loves to be on my screened-in Lanai. There she sits on a chair and surveys th...

I was a member of staff in the Diocese of Western Massachusetts between 1980 and 1984, as well as being Vicar at St. Christopher’s Church in Chicopee, MA. One of my diocesan colleagues was Canon W.D. Crockett. That middle initial stands for “David”, and yes, he was “Davie Crockett”. He was a short man, but filled with pep and vinegar. Everyone loved Davie Crockett. He preached for me one Sunday at St. Christopher’s. The lesson had something to do with the name of Jesus (probably Philippians 2:1-11) and I can still hear Canon Crockett’s opening words. “What’s in a name?” he said. David’s wife was Eleanor. She was a bit vague around the edges, and none of us were surprised when she later succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease. She was with us that day at St. Kit’s and I asked a nice woman to sit with Eleanor Crockett for the service. But I “almost died” with laughter when that woman, at coffee hour, introduced Eleanor to another congregant with the words “I want you to meet my friend “Biffy Cr...

This, that, and a bit of the other. It was a tough day at Res. House. B. was mad at us because she had missed our three calls on the P.A. system for her shower. She was adamant in her belief that we had not called her, and that we were plotting against her so that she could not shower. She launched into an all too familiar diatribe against me. “What kind of a Pastor are you?” she asked and added more crap like that. Then she stated that she would report me to the Director of Res. House. Lacking in patience or charity, or maybe calling her bluff, I immediately asked my supervisor to talk with B., which she did. There are days when we volunteers “don’t take no shit”. V. was spoiling for a fight. He’d had an encounter on the streets with M. last night. M. showed up at Res. House, despite the fact that he has been banned for anti-social behaviour -- we call it “red-jacketing”. I asked the Boss to expel M. which he did. But M. continued to hang out in the street outside, whilst V. and oth...

I’ve been down in Fort Myers these past two weekends, and will be there again Aug 16/17. There I have been serving as summer supply Priest at St. Hilary’s Church. http://www.sainthilarys.org/ It’s been fun! Fort Myers is some 80 miles south of Sarasota, on Florida’s West or Gulf coast. In 1850 a Fort was built there to “ward off” the Seminole Indians. (It was named for Col. Abraham Myers). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears for an account of the shameful episode in American history which led to the forcible removal of Seminole Peoples from Florida. And see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminole_(tribe) for a Wikipedia account of Seminole history. In 1885, Thomas Alvah Edison built a winter home on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River in Ft. Myers. In 1916 his friend Henry Ford purchased the adjoining property. See http://www.efwefla.org/ The beauty of Ft. Myers is the broad estuary of the Caloosahatchee River. The sadness is that the estuary is inaccessible. It is lined ...

Volunteer known as a steady hand offering help By Cathy Zollo The man muttering garbled English, the one everyone else assumed was drunk that day a few years back at Resurrection House, caught Ray Grills' attention and had him sending another volunteer to investigate. The man, it turned out, was profoundly deaf and needed a hearing aid, which volunteers arranged. It is just one of the stories they tell about Grills at Resurrection House. Now 93 and one of its longest serving volunteers, he arrives four mornings a week before 7 a.m. He readies a breakfast of cereal, pastry, coffee and tea for the crowd that gathers out front. He washes, dries and folds some of the laundry they left the night before. He lays out towels for the ones who want to shower. "We'll put out the milk just before they come in," he says. And just after that, he slips out the back door -- sometimes before the first homeless person walks in the front. "He's a behind-the-scenes kind of guy,...

The Revd. J. Michael Povey at St. Hilary's, Fort Myers, FL 1 Kings 19:9-18 9 At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 10 He answered, "I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." 11 He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his man...