“I just can’t figure you out.” She says casually. Perhaps not meaning to make a big statement; not realizing that she has pretty well summed things up. He wipes a hand slowly down his face, stretching it out at the chin.
“Figure me out?” He finally manages.
“Yeah. I’m not sure I get you. I don’t know where to put you – in my life.” She pauses.
He clears his throat. “Don’t you think we’re kind of ‘in’ each other’s lives whether we’re ‘put’ anywhere or not? Why do I have to
fit somewhere instead of just
being part of it? And,
what happens once you get me all figured out?”
The waiter stops and stands in front of me. I turn my attention to him; smile back, and place my order.
“How do you want your egg?”
“Sunny side up, please. A little runny.”
“White or wheat?”
“Do you have rye?”
“I think. Let me check –”
“
No. No, wheat’s fine.”
“Meat?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Bacon, Canadian bacon, ham, sausage patty, sausage links…”
“Ham, please.”
“Coffee?”
“No. Just a small orange juice.”
“Got it.”
“Oh, wait. And a cinnamon roll.”
“And a cinnamon roll.”
“Yep. Thanks.”
“Be right back with your juice.”
Checking my watch, I have plenty of time before my appointment, and it is just a few blocks away. Someone has left an unfinished crossword behind. A couple guys eating at the counter are discussing politics – or sports – hard to tell.
Everything finally makes it out to the table and I get to thinking. At Lydia’s the other night they were talking about Abraham and Sarah. Quite a pair, those two. I like them. Especially Sarah, who laughed! Of all the ways people in the bible respond to God, Abraham and Sarah seem the most accessible to me. The most humble. The most real. But, then someone started in on this “Abraham as friend of God” thing. What it means and what it does not. Taking a point of contact and turning it into a roadblock. I think when the bible says Abraham was a “friend of God,” it means just that.
* * *
While making rounds with the coffee pot, the waiter notices that the man at table fourteen has left. He finds enough money on the table to cover the bill as well as an extremely generous tip. He also finds the following prayer, carefully handwritten on a napkin:
“Forgive me, Old Friend, for all the times I make a puzzle of you. Playing our relationship like a game with letters, lines and boxes. Pieces fit to my way of thinking. Forms patterned according to my wanting to win or just not wanting to lose. Excuse me, Dear Neighbor, for approaching as though you were a problem rather than welcoming you as an honored guest. I am truly sorry, Wonderful Counselor, to find how often I hold my own positions dearer than your confidence and trust. Here is my heart. Here is my hand. Would you take them, please? And, might we walk together? Amen.”
“Excuse me!” The young couple who have been arguing over in booth five wave to get the waiter’s attention. “Check, please.” They seem anxious to leave. Without missing a beat, he puts the napkin-prayer quietly away and turns to them.
“You’re good.” He smiles. “The guy that was sitting here bought you breakfast.”
“I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” ~John 15:15
* With apologies and appreciation to M. Jagger & K. Richards!
