I heard a Pastor friend tell me a story of one of his most embarrassing moments. He had taken an elderly woman in the congregation to a doctor’s appointment. My Pastor friend is a very no nonsense type of man. He is an avid reader and a scholar, but in all his studies he was unprepared for the moment that was about to transpire.
The little elderly woman was a talker, but unfortunately, all she could find to talk about were her many ailments. After the doctor visit, he carefully helped her out of his 1998 Buick Century. To be helpful he had pulled up to the sidewalk of the assisted living apartment building. Holding his right hand she walked slowly and carefully with her cane. It was a spring day and the wind was blowing her flower print skirt when suddenly something dropped. As he helped her get her footing, he felt a wet thud on his brown oxfords. Looking down he realized in a split second what had happened. With a gasp, she looked down to discovering she lost her disposable undergarment.
“Oh Dear,” she said.
In that important 8th of a second, he had to decide how to handle the awkward and embarrassing moment. Being a straight shooter he quickly kicked it aside into a nearby bush and declared, “We will just have to do without that right now and move on.”
She muttered something as she decided to obey his charge and keep moving, both of them praying that the wind wouldn’t blow anything else loose. Soon she was safely in her apartment, and he made it back to his car without even a side glance at the gift left under the shrub by the side walk.
I often think of that story with a smile on my face, picturing my well put together friend in a falling to pieces situation like that. It also makes me think about how life plays tricks on us. We can be going along minding our own business when a circumstance smacks us in the face without warning.
Life can drop unexpected embarrassing details into our no-nonsense plans. So what do you do when you feel shocked, humiliated, or horrified? This story gives us some great advice, “We will just have to do without that and move on.”
There are certain embarrassing moments that make my face turn red just thinking about them. Like the time I tried out for a professional theater production in Branson, Missouri called The Promise. After I got the first call back I told all my friends and classmates at college that I landed a part. My name had almost gone up in lights as the prize drama student when I received the call that they had decided to choose someone else for the part. What? You mean I have to tell everyone to take down the banners? I really didn’t make it?
I had never been more tempted to keep living the lie in front of all my bible college friends, instead of humiliate myself by telling the truth. I was so mad I yelled at God, “I can’t believe you did this to me?” How telling that moment was for the condition of my heart. Ashamed, I realized I had to fess up and move on.
It is hard to get real about our pain, our mess ups, our embarrassments, but on the other side of that door there is a fresh new start. Life is a gift and every day holds new possibility. So when you find yourself caught off guard with something unpleasant remember this story of the lowly Pastor just trying to be helpful, but receiving an unwanted gift on his new shoes. Just shake it off and move on.
No comments:
Post a Comment