…There’s a Train a Comin’

If you will allow me a bit of reverent plagiarism this time around, what follows appeared in a newsletter to which I subscribe.

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The Rev. Dr. Billy Graham is now 91 years old and suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Some time ago, civic leaders in Charlotte invited their favorite son to attend a luncheon in his honor.

Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because of his struggles with Parkinson’s, but the Charlotte leaders said, “We don’t expect a major address. Please just come and let us honor you.”

After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd and began speaking slowly and softly. “I am reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who was honored by Time Magazine as its Man of the Century.

“Dr. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the Conductor came down the aisle, punching everyone’s ticket. When he came to Dr. Einstein, the great man reached in his vest pocket for his ticket. It was not there, so he searched through his trouser pockets. It wasn’t there. He went through his briefcase, but, alas, no ticket. Then he looked in the seat beside him, but the ticket was not to be found.

“The Conductor said, ‘Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I am very sure that you bought a ticket, so don’t worry about it. You don’t need a ticket to ride the train today.’

“Dr. Einstein nodded appreciatively. The Conductor continued on down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned to see Dr. Einstein down on his hands and knees, still looking for his ticket.

“The Conductor rushed back and said, ‘Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, please don’t worry about it. I know who you are: there’s no problem. You don’t have to have a ticket. I’m sure you bought one.’

“Einstein looked up at him and said, ‘Young man, I too know who I am. What I don’t know is where I am going.’”

Having said that, Billy Graham continued.

“See the suit I am wearing? It’s a brand new suit. My children and my grandchildren bought me a new suit, to wear to this luncheon and on one other occasion. Do you know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I will be buried.

“But when you hear that I’m dead, I don’t want you to immediately remember the suit I am wearing. I want you to remember this: I not only know who I am; I also know where I am going.”

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“People get ready.

There’s a train a comin’

Don’t need no baggage.

You just get on board.

All you need is faith,

To hear the diesels hummin’.

You don’t need no ticket,

You just thank the Lord.”

- Curtis Mayfield

The Good, The Bad, and The Unexpected

Being a small businessman, I know there’s only two kinds of customer service:

1) Good

2) Bad

The so-called  ‘great’ customer service experience is a myth. For there is no quality or measure of pleasurable experiences which will not be immediately offset by a single ‘bad’ one.

Whether it’s a big a boo-boo such as losing your customer’s personal info or just simply putting someone on hold for 25 minutes without resolving their problem, it won’t matter how many extra miles you’ve gone leading up to that one unfortunate detour. In the customer’s mind, you now have ‘bad’ customer service.

So with that in mind, I sent up a quick prayer this morning for the Lord’s Spirit to guide my actions just before going out to greet the delivery drivers whose truck had just pulled into my driveway.

You see, a couple of weeks ago, I had refused delivery of this same package because it was so unacceptable, I could actually see the damaged product inside the box without even opening it.

Add to that the somewhat-less-than-servile attitude of the company’s Customer Service Department during the interim two weeks, and I was definitely expecting a ‘bad’ experience. Like root-canal bad.

(Cue theme from “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” as we rack focus from behind me in my doorway out to the truck in the driveway.)

But wait! Not only were all the boxes in perfect order, the men loading them were as well, being humbly in His service first.

I actually ended up not only tipping them generously (which gives me much more joy than being put on hold for 25 minutes), but I gave them my card with a promise to do more business with them in the future.

For you see, it turns out the driver is just about ready to launch his own delivery service in my area. He only needs a few more dollars towards his first truck and he will be ready to offer a Grace-based alternative to his less- than-optimum current employer.

So not only did I get my stuff in good condition this time, I now have a new Personal Team Member for all my large-box deliveries and a brother of high integrity to call friend as well.

With customer service, there’s only: The Good and The Bad.

With God, you can always add: The Unexpected.

You just have to make sure you ask for it.

James 4:2

When’s Your Joy?

This morning when I walked into my 4-year-old son’s room to make that final nudge toward the breakfast table, I interrupted his final chorus of  “Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy, Down In My Heart” as he was pulling up his socks.

Have to admit. Never taught him that one. Never sang it with him.

It got me to thinking. When was the last time that I sang a worship song on my own, when I was the only one in the room, just because …well, because I was joyous!?!

My son didn’t stop the song when I came in. He finished. Loudly. And then he smiled and asked, “Dada, why do they only talk about Tuesday in that song?”

“Tuesday? What do you mean, son?”

“Y’know, at the end, when it says ‘…down in my heart TUES-DAY!’”

He may have the words slightly off, but trust me, he knows all about joy.

And his definitely ain’t just on Tuesdays.

Isaiah 11:6

Can You Disappear?

What made Moses great?

His courage?

His faith?

His patience?

Or was it something more subtle?

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is 2Chronicles 7:14

“If my people, among whom my Name is called upon, do humble themselves, and pray and seek my presence, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear in heaven and be merciful to their sin, and will heal their land.”

That verse states what I believe to be God’s basis for all right relationship with Him and with each other – humility. It is the “starting point” from which all personal interaction must flow if we are to be true servant-leaders for Christ.

Moses’ greatness was in his humility. His ability and willingness to “disappear” in service to God and to His people. To make himself nothing, even though he would seem to be most deserving of God’s richest rewards here on earth.

After more than 40 years of faithful and expectant service to God in the desert, he was denied entry into the Promised Land on what some would call a “technicality”. Yet just before his death, he pronounced this prayer over the people of Israel:

“Though He love the people, yet all Thy Saints are in Thine hands: and they are humbled at Thy feet, to receive Thy words.” (Deut. 33:3 )

When the time of testing came, Moses placed God’s Glory over his own.

He disappeared.

Can you?