What this guy said here.

Sigh. Fine, I’ll write something.

Actually, here’s the deal. A few days ago, I was ordering food for a few of us in the office. I made a few observations and then deduced that although I’d not asked, I should order a meal for Dr. Elnes. For some reason, this is very risky for me.

I love to cook for others, and nurture with the care of a loving meal. But at this point, I’m ordering takeout for someone who didn’t make any preferences or requests.  It’s stressful to pick someone’s take out order. What if they’re picky? What if they have a food allergy? What if….Based on previous conversations, I reluctantly ordered, and went with a grilled chicken salad.

“Okay, ma’am, what kind of dressing would you like on that salad?”

Ack! The pressure! I think I’ve taken enough risks in decision making for others. Don’t you? Sigh. Fine, I’ll pick a dressing. I went with vinaigrette.

After all was said and done, everyone ate, and everyone was happy and nourished and everyone was eternally grateful. (After all, we work together in a church.)

Later, Dr. Elnes asked me how much he owed me. I told him not to worry about it. (I mean, paying the man in salad for softening my soul is a fair trade off, I feel.) He pushed a little further, so I told him $700. Again, he asked how much he owed me. I told him $5. He gave me five times that and then he mentioned this.

Now, instead of stressing over the risk to take in ordering salad and dressing – which by the way, I totally nailed it- I have to take a risk with his 5-times payback and/or grace.

Or, maybe it was the other way around. Maybe I took the risk and he paid it back 5 times over.

I realize taking a risk over which salad dressing to pick for someone versus taking the risk over what to believe in for God’s grace is a bit fractional. But my point is the big question is “What if I chose wrong?” The problem is, no one really answers that, because then we’d realize there’s nothing to be afraid of. So, what if I chose the salad or the dressing wrong? He probably would have still been grateful and not eaten it. Because I know Dr. Elnes is a kind person, what he wouldn’t do is berate me or attack my personal character for choosing the salad. So, “What if I choose wrong?” on my belief system with God’s grace? The honest answer is all in the grace.

Deciphering whether we are the payor or the payee is the tough part. So, are you the gracer or the gracee? Not sure, but one thing is for sure, keep giving it, keep receiving it and then keep paying it forward.