Excuse the french, but I think it's a valuable lesson. If there has been one constant in phone conversations with my mother since the summer, it's been about her dreams of my teeth falling out because I haven't been to a dentist. So when she called today while I was at lunch with Sarah, and I still hadn't scheduled the appointment, I told Sarah that the teeth conversation was going to happen again and I was going to tell my Mom I had scheduled it, and call when when I got back to work. Well, sure enough my mom is still have dreams about my toothless smile, and I fed her the story. The problem was, that she didn't bite. Her exact words were, "OK Bry, did you really call, or are you just saying you called and now you are going to rush back to the office to deal with it?" Sarah heard her, and we both burst into laughter. I couldn't even try to cover my tracks. I'd lied and was totally found out. Mom's response was, "you can't shit a shitter" and it's so true. By shit a shitter she meant, you can't fake a faker. I will be expecting another phone call about my teeth, and about publicizing my mothers use of cuss words, but I think it's a good point that extends beyond the little white lies about scheduling appointments. You can't fake your way through anything and when you try to, you get burned. It just doesn't work- in friendships, in your job, in your spiritual life. It's funny because I read last night in "The Message" which is the New Testament written in contemporary English, from Romans 1-2.
"You didn't think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he's such a nice God, he'd let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. GOD IS KIND, BUT HE'S NOT SOFT (I love this line). In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life change.
You're not getting by with anything. Every refusal and avoidance of god adds fuel to the fire....If you go against the grain you get splinters, regardless of which neighborhood your from, what your parents taught you, what schools you attended. But if you embrace the way God does things, there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or how you were brought up. Being a Jew won't give you an automatic stamp of approval. God pays no attention to what others say, or what you think about you. He makes up his own mind"
OK a couple of notes. First of all, I always thought that preachers used the topical search index in the back of a study bible to find the verse that proves the point of a story that happened in the week prior. In reality, that could be true in some cases. On the other hand, it could be a myth I've created due to my lack of discipline, spending time in the word. One night of reading the bible matched with one trivial conversation and I've put together a spiritual lesson for myself. Huh. Second of all, if we go back to the original Shitting the Shitter lesson, and relate it here...we will have to rephrase. In my mom's case I'm shitting the shitter because she may be just as bad about making a habit of 'faking it' as I am. But with God, he's no shitter...he's the real thing. So you can't shit....the highest, the all knowing? Finally, I have this sinking feeling that this will be the first post that my grandparents read, and if so...I am sorry for my use of language! I just thought there were some parallels in points and this blog has become the best forum for me to share most of my experiences. I also offer an apology to anyone else offended by the use of the word shit as a verb connected to a conversation about God. It's not conventional, but I'm not even going to pretend to have the world's cleanest mouth all of the time.
In the spirit of being honest, we didn't do...anything in the office today, really. I mean, I went over the event manual with George Johnson, which is helpful to hear him talk through the events he is responsible for coordinating. Other than that, Sarah and I got to pretend to be metropolitan professionals and sit outside of Dean and Deluca for lunch. Our favorite pastime, besides learning everything there is to know about this industry (obviously), is watching female professionals walk by and pick apart their outfits. The corner of South Tryon and 4th street was a great place to people watch! Hoping to go downtown for lunch more often.
Tonight Ann and I went to the Pizza Peal for dinner and chocolate cheesecake. We talked about my jobs, taking everything you can from a company, and learning your place in the hierarchy of a business. All valuable things to keep in mind when interacting at work. Loved dinner and conversation with my Aunt!
I AM making the dentist appointment tomorrow.
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