Sunday, December 03, 2006

The Life of the Hokey Pokey

You put your left foot in your put your left foot out you put your left foot in and you shake it all about. You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around that's what it's all about. Hey! You put your schedule in you pull your plans back out you pick your datebook up and you shake it all about you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around that's what it's all about. Hey! You put your phone call in you pull your drama out you put your tears on high and you shake your voice about you do the hokey pokey and you turn my life around that's what it's all about. Hey!

So Hubby pointed out tonight in a moment of frustration that lately the whims of others are starting to make our life inconvenient. People call us up and cry and we change our schedule around and they change their minds. They make plans with us to go somewhere and they cancel at the last minute or like tonight we agree to do something that takes a decent amount of prep, we call and confirm and then after they don't show we call to find out we'll be rescheduling for later this week. Pisser!

I find myself occassionally wanting to yell "hey" not in that "how you doin'" sort of way but in that "who the heck do you think you are sort of way." Put mildly... I am tired of bending over backwards only to get spanked.

Our friends have decided it's exceptable to just say "oh your in our prayers" and then never call, never ask, never put forth any effort. If we bring something up "oh it's in our prayers" if not...nothing. Silence... silence on the other end of the email, silence in my non-ringing phone. I put my whole heart in they pull my whole soul out I put my prayers all in and it's shaken all about they do the hokey pokey and they turn me all around. That's not what it's all about.

See I'm frustrated. I suppose that's a good thing. I'm frustrated that people are settling for stagnent Christianity. Myself included. I'm frustrated that you think that prayer alone is all God asks of you. God asks of your time, your effort, your love AND your prayer. People wonder why when someone is hurt they shut down...they are worried that in addition to their hurt they are about to get to do someone else's hokey pokey.

Hubby and I are a different kind of Christian, maybe it's not the right kind but we think it is. He is the councilor, people call us when they have drama and he is stable and plans with you on how to make it better. I'm more the planner type, you call me with your drama and I'll help you plan just about anything, party for 200 I can do that, a way to leave your abusive boyfriend, I can plan that. But moreso, we are there. We are not some whimsical fly by night friend. We are there. We are there the week you leave the guy that cheats on you, we are there when you have surgery and we are there when you need to move. What you love about us...our willingness to help is turning into you mistaking our kindness for stupidity. But what is stupid is us expecting more... it's dangerous thing...

You put your expectations in you pull your expectations out you put your intentions in and you shake your life about you do the hokey pokey and the world still turns around...that's what it's all about...

1 comment:

Cheryl said...

It's tough to constantly be putting yourself out there, bending over backwards to be a kind, decent member of the community. It's a lonely life, but I appreciate that you're still putting in the effort to keep up with your friends' dramas... even if you get nothing in return except a virtual hug from a blogger friend.