My oldest son worked as a waiter at a retirement community in High School. It was a wonderful job, and he met a lot of very interesting people. Last spring, they had a dinner for the graduating seniors that worked there and their families. My wife and I were fortunate enough to attend.
The speaker that evening was a resident of the facility. His name was Bill Jones. He was almost 90 years old, and had been a Baptist Bishop. Very obviously southern, his drawl was soothing and his demeanor was calming. If you saw him you would have guessed him to be in his late 60’s. Impeccably dressed and amazingly spry, he shared with us some of his ‘life lessons’, because “that’s what us old folks are supposed to do”.
Mr. Jones was a young minister in the 1950’s in a very busy parish in the suburbs of St. Louis. One day he was particularly busy, and completely flustered. He was running around his office frantically. He said to his secretary, “Mary Alice, I don’t know what I am going to do. I have three meetings today, I have to visit one of our parishioners in the hospital, I have a funeral at 11:00, and a wedding at 4:00. How will I get it all done?”
Mary Alice replied, “Bill Jones, when I was a young girl in parochial school, I had to take sewing class. I had the hardest time with that class. I tried and I tried, but I just couldn’t get it. One day I had a particularly large mess of thread in my hands that I was trying to unravel. Sister Margaret came over to me, put her hand on my shoulder and said, 'Mary Alice – don’t jerk the tangles'. And that would be my advice to you Bill Jones – DON’T JERK THE TANGLES.”
I will never forget hearing that inspiring story. In our lives we so often find ourselves buried in problems. Watch what you eat. Exercise. Work. Raise a family. And there is only 24 hours in a day! How can we possibly get it all done?
In the grand scheme of things, it will all get done. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But if we keep focused on our goal, and work diligently – it will all get done. When you start feeling overwhelmed just relax, take a deep breath, and remember Mary Alice.
