the new hire

There was a young company that had been doing quite well within its division of the world market. It had had been expanding its employee base for the past 30 years. Yet the interesting thing about this company was that its employee base was all relatives and lifetime friends of the CEO. Each employee had been grandfathered in and trained by someone in the family. Now this was actually a very good thing for the company. It had contributed to its rapid rise to success in the past 29 years. However, the company was becoming quite large and the complications of internal affairs were of a very ingrown nature. It was becoming more and more obvious to everyone in the company that the health of the company rested upon new hires from the outside.

Now, throughout the years, the company had made available new hire applications to the public, in case it wanted to hire on a dime. However, these applications were distributed in a pick-up box near the front door of the company. Needless to say the box was quite neglected and there was a deposit box beside it for the return of the completed applications. Yet, the dark secret was that the CEO himself took care of the deposit box. When nobody was watching, he took all the carefully prepared applications, tore them up for good measure and threw them in a bin in the dank basement of the company’s headquarters.

So, there was an internal meeting and the very next day the company opened an H. R. office for the first time. Then they proceeded to hire the first person that walked into the waiting room with a completed application. To make a long story short, the new hire added to the distress of the internal family affairs and worse robbed the company until she was caught and fired. To hire so quickly was a stupid move and the company realized it. It also realized it was yet incapable of processing potential new hires and following through to the successful integration of a good candidate.

Meanwhile, the waiting room of the H.R. office filled slowly with new potential employees. They left their applications and rang back for follow-up interviews. The H.R. office politely took their applications and filed them in a filing cabinet. They took the calls and politely gave as much information as was appropriate and accurate. Some of the applicants were persistent. Others just left their paperwork. Yet the CEO worked night and day studying employee hiring processes. He even organized a task force to help his employees participate in the process with consultants in the business. He knew that a new hire from the outside was vital to the health of his company. He regretted the torn-up dank applications in the basement. But he could do nothing to salvage them now. Yet he had faith in the future of his company, in the policy changes he had proposed and the efforts of his taskforce, H.R. office and ultimately in the employees he had not hired or identified yet.

If anyone can discern the particular meaning this parable has for me—you deserve a prize. But if the general message is potent enough for you—that is more than great.

the benefit of meeting strangers

Four years ago, while I was sitting and reading in a coffee shop in uptown, a young man approached me. He asked me if I had ever modeled for anyone and wondered if I’d be interested in modeling for him. Since he was more polite than your average person, I gave him the time of day. I asked if he had a website with some examples of his work, which I could review. I took his number and website. After considering it a while, praying over it, I got the distinct sense that this guy was harmless and generally respectable. I looked his website over. He did great portraits. Somehow he captured expression and personality on his subjects’ faces. And he took pictures of guns and ammo. I had an ulterior motive—I wanted to break into a new circle of friends. Somehow I sensed this was a step in that direction. I called him up. We set up a time for the shoot at his apartment. I called a trusted friend and told her where I’d be at, because I knew my roommates would simply freak out.

I got to the apartment. He set up the equipment and started the shoot. About a half hour into it, we’re both getting a bit bored. He suggested pulling out some props. He goes to his living room closet, rummages around, and then emerges with the biggest gun I have ever seen. I freak out in my head as he approaches me with it. But in an instant, I switch into a mental clarity that I get, only when in a crisis that requires action. The closest exits leaped out at me—the door behind him and the patio behind me. I note what I am standing on—bare apartment carpet and the backdrop (no plastic, with which one could roll-up a body into). If I got shot, it would be very messy. I was instantly aware of myself him and God as I took a read of my new friend’s body language and general vibe. Everything seemed calm and nonchalant. My blood pressure dropped back to normal and I modeled the gun for him.

This guy is now the hub of the largest network of friends that I have. He has introduced me to quite a number of intelligent geeks and quality peers. One of the friends he introduced me to won my trust immediately. After only a couple conversations, he asked me candidly, so are you interested a friendship or some other relationship. I told him I was interested in the friendship. Anything else was out of the question. He also introduced me to a lady who is a well-spoken, competent leader and a plethora of other artistic and unusual people as well as those of foreign decent. I’ve also met a conservative, home-schooled, evangelical airplane mechanic, who is quite involved in politics and defending his freedom.

our mediator

In Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship, he talks about the relationship between two people and how Christ is the mediator between us and God but ALSO, he is the mediator between two humans AND his presence is manifested in the shared life of believers together. His emphasis is the first thought. Mine are the later two additions.

Yet Bonhoeffer’s most stabbing point is that Christ is the mediator and only faithless persons attempt to relate to their environment, to others, to God—unmediated. How dare we try to pursue a human friendship without Christ there to mediate the friendship? How dare we even attempt to relate immediately without the consent and input of Christ—the Holy Spirit—God who is with us—he who is so close to us.

Don’t forget to bring your mediator with you today.

definition of a miracle

the spontaneous regeneration of the created order to its original intended design

horse and buggy mennonites in the news

A sociology professor I know from the college side has authored a book on Lancaster Mennonites, or otherwise called the Wengers. Check out the stories here and here.