Breaking the Rules

Sunday morning between services.
The pastor had given a sermon
About God's Love breaking all the rules,
Defying convention and expectation,
Making the impossible possible.
I had listened, and was half-thinking about it,
When I sat down to church breakfast.

A woman sat across the table from me.
We were the only two seated there.
She was reading something on her smartphone.
I had my headphones in.
I don't even know if we made eye contact,
But I acknowledge (now) that
I was supposed to talk to her.

I got up, walked around,
Wanting the notion to leave me.
It would not.
I felt suddenly shy, exposed,
Unwilling to act on the promptings
Of the Spirit.
Someone from the preschool
Came over to talk to her,
And I took that opportunity
To make my unobtrusive exit.

All afternoon,
I was pestered by that feeling
Of work left undone.
Mission not accomplished.
It nestled in the back of my head,
Refusing to be quiet.
Evening brought the annual volunteer dinner.
The archer and I attended,
And wound up sitting together
At an empty table.
The pastor politely, jokingly suggested
That we move to another table,
So as not to appear antisocial.
He pointed to a table where he had spotted
Another choir member.
We got up, relocated,
And lo and behold,
The lady from the breakfast table
Was now dining with us.

Gracious and good Lord,
Thank you for making the way
For a second chance!

We exchanged names and other banal information
Over the course of dinner.
While on line for desserts,
I admitted to her
That I had wanted to introduce myself to her earlier,
But hadn't.
Ironically - or not really ironically, if you think about it -
She said that she'd felt the same.

Later still,
When she and her daughter were getting ready to leave,
I asked the question that had been on the tip of my tongue
For most of the day.
"Is there something
You need praying for?" I asked.
I could feel my face inflame with self-consciousness.
This is not a conversation normally engaged in
With a practical stranger!
If I'd had access to the archer's "Awkward" sign,
I surely would've flashed it up at that moment.
But my query was taken in stride,
And she and I exchanged life situations
That we each asked the other to pray for.

Father,
For the intentions that were spoken tonight...
For her new job starting tomorrow,
For her family,
And for my job transition situation,
Help us.

Lyrics to John Lennon's
"Nobody Told Me There'd Be Days Like These"
Race through my head as I type this:
"Nobody told me there'd be days like these.
Nobody told me there'd be days like these.
Strange days indeed.
Most peculiar, Momma - whoa!"

I chafe at the loss of autonomy,
And the intrusion into my deluded sense
Of self-control.
I know You can break in anywhere You choose.
I know that Your Love manifests
In crazy, unconventional, mind-blowing ways.
I know You can turn the illusion of order in my life
Upside down at a moment's notice.
Thank You for not doing it with too large of a task,
And for giving me a second shot
When I blew the first one.

I chafe because I understand
That my life is not my own,
And I wonder and worry
About what other things
You will ask me to do.

Father,
Give me courage in equal measure
To meet what You Will...