Jerry and Dryer Lint

Unrelated, both events took place on Saturday. 

For a while now, I have shared laundry appliances. But it’s the dryer that I will focus on today. More accurately, it’s the product of that dryer that haunts me.

It's that lint trap. I normally clean it before and after I dry my clothes. But over time, I’ve noticed that ‘others’ do not subscribe to the same procedures. Empirical evidence suggests that ‘others’ remove the lint only before drying their clothes. 

After realizing this, I decided this was quite unfair. As a result, I resolved that I too would become a one-and-done participant. That will teach them. And so, with that mindset, I prepared to do laundry.

With the last turn of the drum, the final load was dry. All packed up and ready to go, my feet stuck to the floor. Perhaps this is the physical manifestation of guilt. At that moment, I hated guilt. Putting the hamper on the floor, I grabbed a paper towel, emptied the trap (again), cleaned off the top of the dryer, and left.

I was faced with two choices. One was to accept the world’s way of doing things. The second told me to quietly serve that same world with a small, insignificant, and unnoticed effort.

Yeah, I hear it – that makes me sound so saintly. Well, we all know THAT isn’t true.

When the laundry was finished (with the twice-cleaned lint trap), errands began. 

I have this indoor tree which will soon be more horizontal than vertical. The time to transplant is well overdue. I’m averse to overpaying for this container, so a trip to the local thrift shop was first on the list.

The Camp Courageous store keeps things like this in one area. In and out was the plan.

As the automatic doors slid open Jerry said, “Hi there!” I didn’t know Jerry, but he was so friendly that I stopped, made eye contact, and returned his greeting. 30 minutes later, we (well mostly he) were still talking! So much for in and out.

Jerry was sitting at the entrance with a cane draped over his knee. I know a little bit about Jerry now. He is:

• A retired Methodist preacher.
• A world traveler who has visited 48 countries and speaks 4 languages - but he's best at German.
• A recent recipient of a new knee which was healing nicely but gave him problems on stairs.
• An avid news junkie.
• A person who, while talking up a storm, calmly admits that he, “talks a lot!”
• A multi-tasker who could say hello to shoppers coming and going at any point during our conversation.
• An international volunteer who plans to leave for Krakow in a few weeks with the Billy Graham Association. He will be helping Ukrainian refugees find shelter.

For the second time in just two hours, I was looking at those same two choices. One was to accept the world’s way of doing things - say hello and keep walking. The second involved embracing the interruption and quietly serving that same world one person at a time with small, insignificant, and unnoticed efforts.

Nope. Still not a saint. I simply needed the reinforcement of back-to-back reminders. We have choices to make every day, most being small and insignificant. One embraces the world and the other serves the people in that world. I should be aware of this and choose carefully.

A man’s ways may seem right to him,

    but the Lord weighs the heart.

To do what is right and just

    is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice

Proverbs 21:2-3

One more thing.

Jerry told me that when he was preaching, he kept his sermons to less than 10 minutes long because he figured he should make one point quickly for best results. I should again consider the length of these weekly ramblings. But, I think it best I do not ask for your opinion.