Parable 35 - My Work

Priscilla was a stick in the mud.

At least, that’s what Kylie thought. Like the time they were at lunch with all their coworkers, and everyone was laughing so hard at the imitations of their boss.

Priscilla barely cracked a smile that afternoon and certainly didn’t join in the laughter.

Then there was the time everyone was speculating that Harold would be fired for his major accounting blunder.

Kylie had told Priscilla, “He’ll definitely be fired. Upper management can’t stand accounting errors. He deserves to be fired. The man is incompetent. I don’t know how he has lasted this long.”

Priscilla responded, “I hope he’s not fired. He’s a hard worker, and he has three kids.”

It turned out that Harold kept his job. That was a couple of months ago, but now the gossip in the office was that Kylie was about to be fired.

She saw people talking behind her back, glancing at her, and shaking their heads. Kylie had been sick for the last two weeks. She felt off, was congested, and had missed six of the last ten days of work. Worse than that, she had missed a project deadline. Kylie said to Priscilla:

“Everyone says I’m going to be fired.”

“Do they?” asked Priscilla. “What do you think?”

“Yeah, I’m going to be fired. I don’t think there’s any hope.”

Priscilla touched Kylie’s hand softly. “There’s always hope. You’ve done nothing wrong. And if you get fired for having been sick, you’ll find a better job than this.”

“I don’t want another job. I want to stay here.”

“Go talk to the boss about it. She’ll listen. She wants what’s best for you, as well as the company.”

Priscilla gestured for Kylie to head to the boss’s corner office.

Kylie reluctantly went in. A few minutes later, she emerged with misty eyes. She whispered to Priscilla, “Thank you.”

Meditation

Many of us know someone like Priscilla, who doesn’t gossip about other people, doesn’t laugh at others’ misfortunes or oddities, and seems to be ever hopeful. Many of us strive to be consistent, caring, forgiving, and reliable as we live out our roles as friends, spouses, parents, grandparents, neighbors, and co-workers.

Even the best of us fail at this from time to time. Our scripture shows us that Jesus struggled, but his work was always pleasing to the Father. Jesus is the embodiment of love, and that love is available to us. He invites us to try to always do what is pleasing to the Lord.

Let’s continue to work on that. We don’t want to be fired. Let’s be there for each other as we strive to improve this Lenten season. Let’s be that coworker that others can always count on. It helps to know that we can always count on the Lord to work with us.

Water the seed and ask yourself...

What is my holy work to do on this day?