The Bearded Baptist in Europe #6

An On Second Thought Special Series

The Bearded Baptist in Europe
Week Six: Candy and Cappuccino
A Sabbatical Travelogue by Dr. Dock Hollingsworth

Have you seen the wonderful slapstick scene from the 1952 “I Love Lucy“ episode where Lucy and Ethel get jobs at the candy factory? If not, stop reading this and Google… it is wonderful! The conveyor belt of chocolates moves their work along but as the episode progresses, the candy comes faster. Their trying to keep up with the speeding conveyor belt is what has made this the second most popular episode in “I Love Lucy“ history. It is funny television, but it is not a funny way to live. This week, I have considered how my ministry was beginning to look like this TV episode. I felt like things were coming faster than I could handle them and the result was that I started handling things sloppily. My confession is that I like the conveyor belt moving fast, but I got to a place where the candy was coming too fast for me to stay effective. I stayed anxious about getting back to task… but I’m learning from the Europeans. 

Europeans have a practice that I was slow to learn or adopt. Eventually, I realized that nobody at the café was going to bring the check to my table unless I asked for it. I sat drumming my fingers on the table wondering why my inattentive waiter had not brought the bill. But, he was in no hurry. (I suppose that if I did not request a check, that I could just sit it at his little outside café table until next Tuesday.)  At the end of each meal, I found myself getting anxious—needing my check—as though I had someplace to be. At the table next to me two coworkers—laughing, enjoying a coffee and telling stories of their workday—an hour of friendship before heading home.  At my other elbow, was a couple who were obviously dating. I couldn’t understand a word they were saying but the body language said it all. They were in no hurry. They leaned into each other… stroked the others arm… ordered another cappuccino. The one guy in the café with no urgent demands, no place to be, no email inbox to tend to, was drumming his fingers and looking for someone in an apron to bring his check.

Why did I allow the conveyor belt speed to overwhelm me? I have more control than I was exercising. I will still work hard. I will still like the speed of an insatiable ministry. I will still want to make one more phone call, do one more sermon edit, check one more thing off the list.  But, I hope that when I get back I will have learned the spiritual value of ordering one more cappuccino, laughing at the table and waiting a while to ask for the check. 

I love being your pastor,
Dock