Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: KINDNESS (11/04/21)
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TITLE: COVERS A MULTITUDE | Previous Challenge Entry
By Lynn Kowal
11/10/21 -
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“Thank you for the opportunity to serve you,” I choked, completely overcome with surprise.
I struggled to catch my breath.
“You have one hour to clear out your desk,” he continued, and indicating with an irritated flick of his finger that I was dismissed, he added, “Come and see me before you leave.”
As I stumbled back to my desk, I searched my mind for why all of this could be happening, but I came up with nothing.
I doubled down on any task he gave to me – finishing it on time and error-free, just as I had been doing for months.
But I had noticed a coldness in his responses toward me for those last few months, and I wondered, Why? What have I done? I’ve been working in this Church Headquarters for a long time and we have always been friendly.
Still, my suspicions were raised when co-workers who had once spoken freely, now clammed up. Did they know something I didn’t?
Finally, when I got to work one day, I sat down at my computer, tried to log in to my account – and to my surprise found it had been locked. Panic rose in my throat again. My heart pounded. Why is this happening, Lord?
Now summoned to his office, and ready to be dismissed, I continued to remain obedient to authority and signed the paper that he thrust at me, “This will make it easier for the other members of Council to understand the situation.”
What about me? I thought, signing the paper, Do I understand?
“But don’t stay too close to me,” he warned, holding up his hand as I took a step towards him. "I'm sick." I heard his words, but I made a decision in that moment, to rise above the situation and clothe my departure in kindness, so I leaned in beyond his defense, and give him a respectful hug goodbye.
As I walked out of his room and passed by the desk that had been mine just a few hours earlier, I picked up the phone as it was ringing.
On the other end was a local minister who was a member of that same Council the main boss had referred to, and she said in a warm voice, “for some reason, Catherine, I just felt I should phone the office right now to tell you that I think you are the best secretary we will ever have.”
I staggered out the front door thinking yeh right and walked the rest of the way home because I couldn’t trust myself to drive the car.
By the time I reached home, the shock had affected the muscles of my throat so that I could no longer swallow or talk. My power of speech had vanished.
I found out later, the whole thing had just been a misunderstanding.
The main boss had planted little notes on each of our computers warning us not to use them for personal reasons, without telling us why.
Because I had no computer at home, I asked the person who was the office manager - not the main boss, “Can I use this computer on a Saturday? I have no computer at home and I need to write a personal letter.”
This man gave permission, saying that the main boss put the notes on everybody’s computer after he fired another girl for playing games during office hours - it wasn’t meant for me.
But what I hadn’t told the office manager who had given me permission, was that, one day I looked at the Church computer for an answer to my own letter during work hours, and I wrote a little note to myself as a joke – “I won’t tell my boss that I couldn’t wait until Saturday.”
The main boss had seen that note when he was digging into my hard drive, and he thought I meant he was the boss I was referring to, not the office manager who had given me permission. The main boss felt I had betrayed him.
I recovered the ability to swallow and talk within a few days, always holding to the words of Jesus, “love (kindness) covers a multitude of sins,” and walked on to find a new job.
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Poignant.