"My Blessing - Not my Doom"

"This is my work; my blessing, not my doom;"

- Henry Van Dyke

This little purple booklet was stashed away in a file folder in a desk drawer in Lou's study.  What a classic!  Copyrighted in 1954, it is John Luther's philosophy on the value of work - a philosophy that Dad shared and modeled throughout his life.

 Representative illustrations reinforced the principles taught in the booklet:

Stuck inside the booklet were some notes Dad had made in the early 1960's for a presentation (maybe to a youth group or Boy Scout troop) about choosing a career.

 Included in his notes were these points that seem to be a summary of how he felt about his career in elementary education.

1. Provide the satisfaction needed
2. Allow for church participation
3. Opportunity for advancement
4. Allow for recreation
5. Allow for family life
6. Allow for community participation
7. Can you find joy in this work?

These note cards completed his preparation:

"Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. " - Mark Twain

The next post will summarize Dad's work history - it's extensive and varied!

An Answered Prayer

This experience happened long before the days of paychecks being handled through direct deposit. School teachers only got paid once each month, and because this was the last pay day in December, the next check would come at the end of January - almost 6 weeks away.

Lou Butler - principal
classic mid 1970's school picture

December 21, 1977 – Today is payday, but at 5 p.m. tonight I realized that I couldn’t find my check!

December 22, 1977 – During the night I woke up and remembered that I had run over to the Arapahoe Grocery to get batteries for my camera about 9:30 a.m., and I remembered that my coat had flapped open as I ran. The inside coat pocket to my newest brown suit is not very deep, and I felt that the check had come out of my suit pocket at that time.

As I lay there in bed about 4 a.m. I could almost see the check laying there on the ground between 9th Street and the alley behind the store where they have their big trash box. So as soon as it was light, about 7 a.m., I got in the car and drove down there.

The wind had been blowing and there were no papers on the street or sidewalk, so I drove slowly down the street and stopped near the alley where the store trash is kept. The wind had swirled into the trash area, and it looked like a few papers were blown together by the fence. I got out of the car, walked over and picked up my check! It was not even wrinkled!

Jim said he had read where people could find things like that if they would just think about them and relax and go to sleep, but he thought it was the Holy Ghost and that “somebody was looking out for me.” He said the book [he read] said we should listen to our subconscious promptings more and we’d be better off.

I was pretty anxious about it and could have gotten by, but it would have been difficult, so I did some praying about it, even though I knew I had lost it through carelessness. I am sure that I did have some help and that it was not just my subconscious mind working.