Breakfast with My Boss

Breakfast with My Boss

or

What Kind of an Employee am I?

I was awakened in the morning to the sound of the phone.  It was my dad calling to tell me that my boss's boss (actually the CEO of my company) wanted to have breakfast with me and was on his way over to my place.  I suppose I should explain at the outset that my dad and my boss's boss (Mr. Huge, I'm going to call him for legal purposes) know each other.  Notwithstanding, the reason Mr. Huge called my dad to get in touch with me instead of directly to my phone (to my very great chagrin), was that my boss's boss knew I wasn't a morning person and that I probably either wouldn't answer the phone or would embarrass myself receiving a call at that hour, and he wanted to give me a chance to wake up and make myself and my attitude presentable.  Now do you suppose that when my dad gave me this news that I was elated?  On the contrary, I didn't really believe him; it's a pretty big company and I've never met or even seen the CEO, and actually, I usually had trouble remembering his name.  So instead of jumping out of bed and showering I asked him what time the guy was supposed to be coming over, so that I could sleep in until the last minute - which I did, by the way, even though my dad didn't know what time I should expect him: just that he was on his way.

     Thanks to my thick morning wits and grouchy attitude (I'll tell you the truth, I can be a real badger if it's been a rough night and I'm not ready to get up) I was surprised awake a second time by a knocking on my front door.  Even then I didn't jump out of bed and throw on my best clothes, no... I peeked out the window to see who it was, because if I didn't want to see them bad enough to wake up before I was ready, I was going to pretend I didn't hear it.

     I couldn't seem to process it at that hour (it was only about 9 AM) but it was him, Mr. Huge, just as my dad had warned me.  Apparently the boss is big on mornings because he must have gotten up before the crack of dawn to drive all the way down to my house from Tacoma (I live in Bremerton) in time to have breakfast with me.

     Well no, I wasn't going to send away Mr. Huge (I don't have a career death wish), so I got up, rummaged around on the floor for yesterday's pants and t-shirt and dragged myself to the door, dry-washing my face and finger combing my hair as I went.  I didn't actually know what the Yiddish word meant, so I probably shouldn't have used it on myself, but I'm just going to keep being honest with you, I felt like a schmuck.  (By the way, I just looked it up, and yes, it thoroughly applies.)

     I have to admit, for being a CEO, Mr. David Huge is a really great guy.  He didn't say anything about the fact that I had obviously just gotten out of bed and looked terrible.  He was friendly, courteous, and apparently forgiving of my laziness and poor reception of him.  "Hi Michael, I'm David," he said, "I'm the CEO of Such-and-such Human Services."  (You'll have to excuse the phony name filling in for my company, but you understand, I'm sure.)  Still standing in my doorway he went on, "I've seen you around and I've been wanting to meet you - actually, I've been wanting to talk to you about your future -  so I thought it would be good to have you come over for breakfast."

     Yes, it turned out that he was inviting me to have breakfast at his house, he just knew I wouldn't ignore his invitation if he showed up at my house first.

     So I invited him in, of course, asking his pardon while I prepare myself properly.  But then my humiliation multiplied twice over.  For one, I hadn't realized what a mess the house was until he stepped into it in his sharp, clean suit and tie.  In truth, it was a pigsty, and I wasn't able to resist trying to straighten up a few things while he stood there in my living room.  And he for his part, bless him, didn't make a single remark about it or even lift an eyebrow; but rather, at my somewhat hesitant invitation he made himself right at home on my couch while he waited.  Secondly, there was this which mortified me: My wife - who doesn't miss much - overheard the phone call earlier, overheard me inviting in a guest, put it together, and came into the living room to meet my boss's boss.  "Dylan, it's a pleasure to meet you," she greeted him warmly.

     Question: who's Dylan?  She'd heard me mention the CEO before by name, but I don't doubt I must have spoken it in error, because at that moment I was drawing another big blank.  His name is David, as he'd just told me at the door.  Now, not two minutes later, I was having trouble recalling it.  Worst of all, he could see that I was struggling for it, but he just sat there waiting patiently while I took my time remembering.  I settled on, "Sweetheart, this is Mr. Huge, the CEO of my company.  He has asked me to come have breakfast with him this morning, and I've accepted."

     "Please, David is fine for my friends," he said, getting up to shake my wife's hand.  "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jolene.  You're most welcome to join us for breakfast if you'd like."

     I don't remember what other little niceties there were to the conversation, and anyway, the conversation itself isn't the point.  I could make points all day about this anecdote, and in a moment I will bring a few things to your attention, but first I'd like to try to describe what I was going through internally during the course of this strange morning.

     He was good enough to inquire after my disposition at one point, and I admitted to him candidly that I was completely baffled by the situation, viz. that he wanted to have breakfast with me.  He had already told me why, of course, and gently repeated himself to this effect.

     I think at some point, most low level employees sort of dismiss the CEO of their company as one of those big-shot-snooty-pants that are so far removed from them and their lives that their very existence doesn't really matter.  You don't really expect your paths to cross anyway, so it's easy enough to write him or her off, even joke about him/her privately.  Well that really wasn't what I had intended to do, and I had no cynical or sardonic feelings about the head of my company; actually I had heard a lot about him and as far as I could tell, I liked the guy.  Right up until he showed up at my house I probably would have thought I was a better, more loyal employee than some of my coworkers because of it; but after his wake up call (yes that was a pun), I don't feel the slightest bit redeemed by my attitude, only more embarrassed.  I don't think I could emphasize it enough, this guy went way out of his way to meet me; humbling himself to come all the way down from Tacoma to be gracious to a nobody.  And here I had been hoping all along that he would notice me somehow ... in spite of the fact, since I'm face to face with mine errors at the moment, that I'm not exactly the best employee ... that he would see my merit, and promote me.

     A promotion...  Well, he had said, after all, that he wanted to talk to me about my future - that was a good sign.  The thought creating turmoil in my stomach, however, was that I had done nothing to deserve it, and I had a pretty certain feeling that he knew it.

     I was saying that he inquired after my disposition.  I have found that the trouble I have with employers or potential employers is a tendency on my part to get quite nervous; much more so in this case, to understate the matter terribly.  When I get nervous I ramble, I babble, I try to swallow both feet, and before long I end up saying everything that randomly pops into my mind, removing all doubt that I'm a fool.  We hadn't left my house before I'd admitted to him that I didn't deserve his attention, and that I had been a slack employee.

     I don't recall much else at the moment, except that he smiled, so I suppose that the dream ended there.

     Now do you suppose I woke up instantly thinking, "Wow, what an eye opener?"  I'll be candid as I hope always to be.  My first cognizant thought this morning was, "Well that was weird; my boss's boss doesn't know where I live."  As I said, I'm not much of a morning person; it takes a few minutes to get my computer warmed up before things start processing correctly.

     Before I say more, I will be forthright with you as I was not previously, viz. that this was all a dream: Yes, I did slightly adjust a few details of the dream for the purposes of relating the story in a way that makes sense, as it all began to make sense to me once I was fully awake.  The full essence of it, however, I did dream last night, and I'm sharing it with you because it lambasted me between the eyes upon reflection.  Last night God had me take a good hard look at my real attitude toward Him: to be specific, I think and speak one way about Him, but I too often act a different way.  I say I love Him but how do I show it?  Do I sleep in until the last minute when He wants something of me?  Do I show Him the respect He deserves by being dressed and ready for His coming?  Do I have my house in order and all uncleanness swept out of it, the better to serve Him until He takes me into His home?  Does my family even know who He is?  What kind of a servant am I?

     After imagining during the night how I would feel if the CEO of my company came to my house to invite me to breakfast with him, only a little more consideration was necessary to put me to shame.  We would all feel honored if a man so far over us, who need hardly concern himself with our existence, came to our home with these condescending intentions; and we would probably all feel embarrassed if he sent word to us to be ready for his coming and found us asleep when he arrived.  I asked myself - as surely the dream was given to me as a parable - how much more if it were God?  How honored do I feel to be invited to His table?  Enough to wake up and prepare myself and family?  And when He asks me what I have been doing for Him in the work place, will I be able to say, "Lord, I have been about your business"?

I hope the moral in this figure blessed you today as it did me; especially, that you and I will not merely agree that the Spirit makes a good point and go about our own business as usual, but receive lasting refinement from it.  Though we may know the truth, do we love it enough to live it out?  Already I can feel the insidious tendrils of the world grasping around mine edges, trying to get an hold of something on me to pull me back down from spiritual loftiness; and I know those tendrils are never going to go away while I am in this flesh.  I know that realistically I'll probably do something totally stupid today, or maybe I'll kill an hour or two (or three, or four) of God's time just sitting around being entertained by something, while some of my supposedly dearest loved ones get that much closer to the grave without knowing Jesus or hearing more about Him from me.  Perhaps hardest of all to know, is how I will ask for their forgiveness when they are perishing in Hell.  In that hour it will be impossible.  I cannot fathom the embarrassment I should feel at that time, as I stand before God and I am made to realize all the opportunities I wasted, in which I might have made that same phone call my father made to me in the dream.  Excepting that it is Heaven and God has promised me that He will wipe away all my tears, I wouldn't be able to survive the shame.  Therefore, let us pray that the Lord will help me and you to put Himself over our lives in His proper place: changing our hearts to be more honored by His blessings for us than we would be by the favor of our earthly bosses; helping us as we seek to honor and serve Him better than we would our earthly bosses - being about His business with better than the same zeal we would accord those who are able to promote us; that we would give Him the attention He deserves; awake, dressed, and ready to receive Him at His coming.

     In Jesus' name.

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."  - Revelation 3:20