Coffee in the Crack

'Why do bad things happen to good people?' - Anne Frank.

I am not sure if she said that, but I could see it happening for sure. There are lots of great lines in the play based on her diary. If you haven't seen it, rent it. oldie but goodie (except the whole black mark on humanity and stuff.)...

So I am driving across Michigan the other day, taking I-94 from Kalamazoo to St Joe. I have a fresh cup of coffee from BK in my hand, with the sip-top opened. (If you cannot see where this is going, you are B-L-I-N-D.) I thought to myself, "don't let this spill." It didn't help.

I am driving to St Joe for a lunch meeting with 3 customers. I decide to take the lid off the cup, as the beverage on the inside is entirely too hot (as the lid and side of the cup had indicated). As I am driving with one had, holding with the other, I pour the CAUTION: CONTENTS HOT contents in my lap.

So much so, that the torrent of fluid broke the protective dyke of my legs, and ran right down my backside into the abyss. Oh my oh my. So now I am sitting in a puddle of hot coffee, which has managed to soak the front and back of my suit pants. Great.

With only 15 miles left to St Joe, i decide the best thing to so is the 'stand-up-drive:' you know, where you elevate your rump so that you are straight, not sitting, and try to avoid uncontrolled acceleration as you do so. (This must be the funniest thing to watch driving down the highway.)

I put the coffee in the cup holder (where it should have started out) and, with utter abandon, began to fan my cheeks - as if the gentle breeze I made had Vornado-ish properties, and would dry these wool pants off within minutes.

Needless to say, I camped in the car int he parking lot until the last minute, put on my coat (buttoned all the way up) and never bent over the rest of the lunch.

As I always say, 'better me than someone else'. I guess.

Cheers,
-fuller

Every Person You Meet

I like selling drugs.

No you don't have to be worried, or ask me to go on that A&E show 'intervention.' I mean the legal kind. Pharmaceuticals - Rx only.

But sometimes the grind of the job gets to me. I am an 'attitude' person. With virtually everyone I meet, regardless of the words they say to me, their attitude/non-verbals are how I listen to them. I just ask for those i encounter to be civil and polite to me - show a little basic respect. Not a lot, just a little. Human decency.

Most docs are busy. Some, due to insurance companies lowering reimbursement, have to see as many as 3 patients in 15 minutes. Not much 'care' in those situations. They are forced to do that, most of the time. - Then, there are 90,000 drug reps in the US and each one is trying to see the docs I am trying to see.

Therein lies the rub.

I come home some days to find myself angry and bitter, because I have been treated like a second rate UPS guy (now I know how the DHL man feels - sorry DHL dudes). The fact that reps may have valuable information escapes the thoughts of many physicians. (Probably because so many reps waste their time.)

Thus, you have me (knows a little about science and vulnerable to negative body language) and Dr Curewhatillsme (sees 50 patients a day and doesn't need to learn anything else) trying to interact. Doesn't happen.

I vent to my wife about how rude some of my customers and their staffs are. But she reminded me of something very important: being a rep is how I get paid, but my job is to love people.

Hmmmmm. I hate when she is right.........She said, 'how many people do you make contact with every day? If you brighten even 1 person's day, or make them wonder why you are different, that is a successful day!'

She's right. Whatever we do to earn a paycheck isn't our job. It just pays the bills. But since we spend so much time doing it, we need to find our higher purpose - to love one another, and glorify the Lord while doing it. Maybe you are in business, or finance, and work in a cubicle...punching numbers all day, and feel like you are 'making the rich man richer.' So what??? Keep doing it - and let than be your ministry tool. If we could all do that and spread the love of God, think of the lives changed.

Thanks, babe, for encouraging me. I love you.
-josh

Why do we ask 'how are you?'

We go to a church with a lot of attendees.

CNN would call it a Megachurch, but I hate that phrase, because it sounds more like a business that way. Like that guy wo preaches in Houston about 'God wanting you to be rich.' At least that is the way Barbara Walters presents it. He wrote a book too - Your Best Life Now - Joel Osteen, I think is his name.

Mars Hill is not like that - it is a community. West Michigan families who embrace forward thinking, being spiritually challenged and rising up to support those in need.

Anyway (after that diatribe on churches)...we heard a great challenge today. The topic: not going at it alone, being in one another's painful (and joyful) places - basically that God made us to carry one another, just as Christ did.

The speaker, a Mars Hill member, used the story of Christ healing a possessed child, told in Mark. In Mark 9:14, the boy's father asks Christ to 'have pity,' which inthe Greek means feeling true empathy and pain in your insides/soul for someone. In Exodus, God bids Moses to adorn a temple for Him, so that He may be 'among' His people. The jist if the message was that God is among the suffering, as we should be.

Furthermore, when we approach a person with a greeting of 'how are you?' how often do we really mean exactly that? Research shows that people tend to ask only 2 questions when invited into a conversation about another persons struggles, so that we do not become actually involved. Interesting...we have moved from 'hello' to 'how are you,' with exactly the same meaning, despite there being such an innate difference in those two sentiments.

We were challenged to actauly mean it when we ask - and moreover, not ask that question as a greetng if we do not really desire or have the time to become involved.

Involved in...what? So often, the speaker points out, when a friend approaches us with something they are going through, or frustrated with, or fighting with, we tend to (1) evaluate their problem, then (2) tell them how to fix it, or give alternatives.

What we SHOULD be doing is LISTENING - we have all been there: when we were teens, had angst about something (because teenage and angst are often used together...) and needed to vent with dad or mom. Much of the time, just sharing our issues made them clearer, or better yet - made us feel better. We just have to get that out sometimes!

As a newly married couple, Layne & I often ehar one anothers issues about work, etc., and propose solutions....eeernnnnnt . Wrong! We need to listen.

It seems so simple, but I am guessing the entire congregation felt like we did - ' yeah, that's me - i need to listen better and invest in people more.'

Take it t heart - it made great conversation over lunch for Layne & I. I hope for you too..

How are you? I mean it...

-josh