Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Was it God or Was it Fear?

Someone, I'll call him Exhibit A, recently attended a trade fair with his boss, Exhibit B. Their job was to manage the booth advertising the products of their company. Since it took two people to effectively run the table, they were inseparable all day long.

As proceedings were winding down, Exhibit A noticed a former co-worker, Exhibit C, walking across the hall towards the exit. Exhibit B blamed Exhibit C for a contract that had been lost when he still worked for their company, and the two men were not on speaking terms.

Exhibit A had not been involved in the original dispute and had nothing against Exhibit C. He wanted to walk up to him and say Hi, but immediately felt the discomfort of being on the horns of a dilemma. If he did so his boss would become angry with him, and Exhibit B's rage was both volatile and toxic.

And so Exhibit A did what any self-respecting religious person would do - and God knows I'm one of them. He sent up a Hail Mary Prayer to the Magic God in the Sky, asking for a miracle. Please God, he said, Give me a chance to say Hi to Exhibit C. And pretty please, don't let my boss know about it.

The answer came into his mind just a few seconds later. The bathroom! He excused himself, telling his boss he had to use the restroom. He crossed the hall but instead of entering the mens room ducked to the left, darted out the exit, and Voila! Exhibit C was just about to get into his car. Exhibit A ran up to him, they exchanged greetings, and Exhibit A got back to the booth without his boss having an inkling of what had just taken place.

Exhibit A told me the story as proof that God answers prayer. I don't want to take away from the mystery of the moment - maybe he is correct - but isn't it possible that something else was going on? Wouldn't it have been much more emotionally healthy for Exhibit A to simply excuse himself from the table for a minute and greet Exhibit C in the presence of his boss, no matter what his response? It might have been followed by some unpleasant moments and a long silent ride home. But it wouldn't have been the end of the world.




14 comments:

sara k. said...

Wow, great way to discover how you really feel about something. Thanks.

Quotable Quotes: said...

now the whole world can know how I really feel! the magic of the internet.

Unknown said...

was it tact?

Quotable Quotes: said...

Tom, it could have been a tactic. But if so, I think my question is still valid as to whether it was tact based on courage, or tact based on fear.

Thanks for reading, by the way!

ctw said...

It was a lie brought about by fear. Perhaps it was justified for personal or career reasons. I don't judge the lie in any way, but it seems strange that someone feels their God answered their prayer via a lie.

aemish said...

"Magic God in the sky"?

Who are you? I'm increasingly convinced there has been some serious crisis of faith in your absence of blog postings.

Quotable Quotes: said...

Crisis of faith isn't a bad thing, it's a wonderful thing.

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aemish said...

Blogger Quotable Quotes: said...
Crisis of faith isn't a bad thing, it's a wonderful thing.

Thank you, Jim Morrison

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sachin said...

get over your fear and try some yoga poses like rabbit pose

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