Lightening Rod for God
My good friend Carol has a theory about what happens to people in their lives. In the gospel of Carol goes something like this: there are basically two kinds of people. One variety can move into a crowd of people and become a part of the human wave. This type of person has friends, family and probably a car that is silver. This individual can move from one place to another without undue notice, manages to drop off and pick up their dry cleaning without an incident either in transit or to their clothing.
The other variety of person - in temperament, personality, upbringing - colors outside of the predetermined lines. They seem animated, even when motionless and silent.
From early, early on I have been the other variety..... as is my buddy, Carol. One of the auxiliary cosmic repercussions of being 'the other variety' is that your paths cross those of extraordinary, eccentric, memorable people. Serendipity to the highest power.
An example? The reason I got the job at the United Nations is that I got in a car accident.... doesn't sound as if one thing would lead to another.... I was working 3 jobs: in the accessories section of a department store, in the catalogue department of a publisher and as the reader of non-solicited manuscripts for the children's book division of the same publisher (I reviewed under the pseudonym Rose Lopez.... the editor-in-chief had quite a sense of humor)! Having crumpled my car when a NYC cab ran a traffic light I needed transportation. My generous editor-in-chief offered to loan me her venerable VW beetle..... circa 1964 (it was 1979 at the time)... which was being stored at the home of an associate (a Hungarian married to an Egyptian) in New Jersey.... wouldn't you know it, the friend's husband worked at the United Nations .... and he handed me an application. The rest is history.
Another? Let's see..... the request for suggestions to the service which I posted on MOLC yesterday came from a woman who had been in the novitiate of a women's religious community with my faithful friend Charlotte in 1982. You just never, never, never know.
In God's good balance there is another side to being 'the other variety'. With great gifts there is great temptation, there are struggles with ego and boundaries, there are losses that come in threes and fours and fives at a time. How does the passage go...... " to the one much is given, much is required". Sometimes I picture myself as a spark plug, but the reality is as a lightening rod.
Here's to you, Carol, Barbara, .... lightening rods for God!
__________________________________________
p.s. I will be away over the weekend with a group of 15 teens and 22 staff at the first HAPPENING! in the Diocese of New York.... for background, check MOLC entry for Nov.15, 2005. Say a prayer for us! Meanwhile, I'll be back here on Monday or Tuesday next week. Go in peace to Love and Serve the Lord. DJ
The other variety of person - in temperament, personality, upbringing - colors outside of the predetermined lines. They seem animated, even when motionless and silent.
From early, early on I have been the other variety..... as is my buddy, Carol. One of the auxiliary cosmic repercussions of being 'the other variety' is that your paths cross those of extraordinary, eccentric, memorable people. Serendipity to the highest power.
An example? The reason I got the job at the United Nations is that I got in a car accident.... doesn't sound as if one thing would lead to another.... I was working 3 jobs: in the accessories section of a department store, in the catalogue department of a publisher and as the reader of non-solicited manuscripts for the children's book division of the same publisher (I reviewed under the pseudonym Rose Lopez.... the editor-in-chief had quite a sense of humor)! Having crumpled my car when a NYC cab ran a traffic light I needed transportation. My generous editor-in-chief offered to loan me her venerable VW beetle..... circa 1964 (it was 1979 at the time)... which was being stored at the home of an associate (a Hungarian married to an Egyptian) in New Jersey.... wouldn't you know it, the friend's husband worked at the United Nations .... and he handed me an application. The rest is history.
Another? Let's see..... the request for suggestions to the service which I posted on MOLC yesterday came from a woman who had been in the novitiate of a women's religious community with my faithful friend Charlotte in 1982. You just never, never, never know.
In God's good balance there is another side to being 'the other variety'. With great gifts there is great temptation, there are struggles with ego and boundaries, there are losses that come in threes and fours and fives at a time. How does the passage go...... " to the one much is given, much is required". Sometimes I picture myself as a spark plug, but the reality is as a lightening rod.
Here's to you, Carol, Barbara, .... lightening rods for God!
__________________________________________
p.s. I will be away over the weekend with a group of 15 teens and 22 staff at the first HAPPENING! in the Diocese of New York.... for background, check MOLC entry for Nov.15, 2005. Say a prayer for us! Meanwhile, I'll be back here on Monday or Tuesday next week. Go in peace to Love and Serve the Lord. DJ
posted by Joanna Depue | 4:45 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home