Sigh of Sweet Relief

Esther Essofigus does not have cancer. I found that out a few days ago. She and Stan are hugely relieved, I'm sure. It is sometimes hair-raising to be a pastor because I worry about Smalltown church members' health issues right along with them. But Esther's tests came back fine. That spot or shadow on the liver was nothing of concern. Whew! I spent a happy time yesterday evening hanging Advent greens with Esther, Stan, and others. (That's Esther at the far right in the picture.) We all hung greens, then reds too. Red Christmas ornaments and poinsettias got intertwined with the Christmas tree and the greens circling the Advent wreath. There were also pine cones nested in the greens, so that would qualify as "Hanging of the Browns." Not to be confused with the Cleveland football team, which does not deserve hanging.

After watching the church sanctuary get festooned with garlands of greens last evening, I took today off and chatted via computer with my friend Shane. Shane was my first manager at HiTekk when I worked there. Shane is nothing like me and maybe that is why we get along so well. He has sandy brown hair with a receding hairline, wears gold-framed glasses, and is about six feet tall and slender. His politics are the polar opposite of mine. I loathed the sight of him when we first met so our friendship is something of a miracle. On one occasion when I was conducting sales training for young HiTekk sales newbies, I had a minor issue, the nature of which I no longer remember. I was tired -- conducting training eight hours a day is tiring -- and I guess I was whining about the problem, or at least Shane thought I was. He listened to me politely as I described the issue, but without saying much. Shane is not a sympathy-giving kind of guy. A few days later I mentioned the dilemma again. He inquired, "Did you get over yourself yet?" By this time I had learned that with Shane I had better give as good as I got. I narrowed my eyes to slits. "I will get over myself the day you get over yourself, SHANE!" He threw back his head and laughed demonically. "BWAAH-HAHAHAHAHAH! Never!"

Before I left, I told him he was so low he could play handball against the curb.

He was just as tenderhearted when I was a new sales rep myself and he was my new manager. I complained to him in the first week because I was getting all these calls for esoteric HiTekk accessory items and did not understand the lingo. I told him the requests sounded like, "Do you have a Whingleberry that fits into my Dickory-Dock?" Shane laughed. "You gotta watch those Whingleberries. That sounds like a strawberry on steroids."

Some people take getting used to, and for me Shane was one of them. But we have been good for each other. I have learned a certain toughness from him, and he has learned new methods of relating to me. We give and receive help in strange ways sometimes.