Foreword
My 93 year old sister-in-law passed away last Friday. Her family gave her a nice reception after her Funeral mass. I was privileged to attend, and have a beer and some food with the family. After I got home I had a lot of thoughts about her and her two sisters, and I have compiled them into this little story.
What inspired me was a set of pictures my nephew Billy Fleming gave me as we entered the restaurant where Genevieve’s reception was being held. They were my inspiration and two of those pictures are included in the story.
It is a story about the last of the Butler family. Billy’s mother was Gertrude Butler, and I was married to Jean Butler for almost 62 years. Three girls of Irish-American descent, who left a ton of legacies.
Their deeds are still among the living, and are influencing this troubled world with the love, humor, and duty those three instilled in them. Nobody is perfect. Nobody can do it all. But those three did what God expected them to do, and now have all joined Him in celebrating their contributions.
Sitting at the kitchen table after a long day, putting up your feet and drinking a fresh cool beer, is a good way to celebrate a day well done. In my rather simple mind, I see those three girls doing just that, as they sit with Jesus and talk about what they did and how they loved us.
Drinking Beer with Jesus
How do we find common ground?
How do we find ways to come together?
To find joy in each other?
Tough questions, but if one lives long enough little clues appear. So many trials and disappointments occur over and over, that we mostly give up, curl up with our set of woes and find a place to get away from it all.
It’ll never happen…
Yes it will. If we sit down and have a beer with Jesus.
What kind of talk is that? It sounds sacrilegious. At the least, disrespectful.
Why would that be? God gave us lots of stuff to drink. Water, wine, beer, coffee, tea, soda pop, on and on, even spirits. The latter not recommended in the main, but acceptable, if used in moderation.
So who is going to meet us when we finish this tour of duty?
Did you ever think about that?
Pope Francis, in his prayer for the ongoing Jubilee of Mercy, speaks of Jesus as the visible face of the invisible Father. That same face that we will meet when we go where He will be.
Yesterday, I met with the family members of the three Butler Sisters who bore many of those who were in attendance as we bid goodbye to the last of the three. Genevieve lived over 93 years, did what God had intended for her to do, and went to meet Jesus through her return to the place where He resides.
It is a Family place. Not just the Butler family, but all families. We are not just individual people, we are Family. Family in every sense of the word.
Ever sit around a table and have a beer with the family? Any family? I have many times, and I have written many stories about those happy times. You will find some of them on relighting.us (a website developed for that purpose). Others have made contributions to those kinds of stories as well. Stories of happiness that we can all make, if we make the effort.
The stories we make as we each live our allotted time, are markers and examples for those who follow us. We communicate those stories in many ways. Mostly as how we live, but our lives are mostly obscure and hidden from the vast majority of those who could benefit from their example. There are ways that people tell these stories that resonate and entertain, as well as communicate. In my view, some of the most effective are in funny stories and cartoons.
Cartoons are metaphors of truths in life. They get at it through humor. They show, not tell. Jesus did a lot of showing. Cartoon humor does not have the same hurdle as words. To communicate truthfully, words require simple but true statements. Not easily done. Having lived more than 90 years, and still being cogent, I have embarked on sharing some of the “Pearls of Wisdom” I have acquired over that period. We can’t all show truth through cartoons, but we can express the value of their messages in other ways.
For over the past almost three years, the time period since my wife and partner of 62 years died, I have been engaging myself in various projects, aimed at doing just that. Engagement is the key word. I have joined and participated in various “Families.” The aim, being to stay engaged, and share some of my accumulated “Pearls”, with them. Prominent among those groups are my offspring, my relatives, my Church, my WWII Division, and programs devoted to music and writing. Basically what I am trying to encourage is engagement. Engagement through expression and action.
My oldest daughter and I, have put in place two websites whose purpose is to provide a garden where those Families can plant and harvest their crops through the medium of stories. Among those crops the grains and other components of the “Beer” we share with each other. Having a beer together puts us all in a mood to celebrate our being together, and makes way for sharing our truths.
A while back I wrote a simple story about a very close family. It was titled:
“Having a Beer with the Castles.” It is a “show” story. Please let me quote the last paragraph of the story. It went as follows;
There is no better expression of friendship. It is what life is all about, and it is achievable, if one is smart enough to recognize and embrace it. Sitting around a kitchen table, having a beer, and gabbing are two clues, in case anyone is interested.
I have written tons of stories, mostly about families, as I believe they are at the heart of my purpose. The Castle family sent me many notes of appreciation after I presented them with that story when one of theirs passed on. Most of my stories somehow include a critical episode of connection. Like having a beer.
Having and sharing a beer is not being a lazy roustabout, but rather, more like being a connected human being. Something needed sorely today. My stories are about humanity, connection, and message in words that bring out the same messages as in cartoons. A lot are about all the goofy behavior of us humans. Even the settings for many of them, I have fabricated many from my memories of Irish relatives of older generations.
We are at our best when we are sharing good times and memories with family. Those times are usually family times. Weddings, reunions, and yes even funeral receptions. Irish are particularly noted for the latter. Let me do a short quote from the lyrics of an Irish tune – McNamara’s Band:
“Oh, we play at wakes and weddings and at all the fancy balls, etc.”
In a parallel path, at a wedding, Jesus converted water into wine so the party could go on without embarrassing the host after his had run short. Having and drinking wine together pretty much adds up to the same thing as having a beer with family. It is a social medicine, and brings us together.
Families are all about together.
We are at home in Family.
Drinking a beer with Jesus is a Family celebration
Drink a beer with Jesus – L’Chiam…
Genevieve Gertrude Jean – The Butler Sisters (about 1975)
Bob Whelan. Bill Fleming, Gertrude Fleming, Bob Repp, Jean Whelan – Genevieve Repp’s Sisters and Spouses (about 1975)