Yesterday I had a job interview. It was at the headquarters for a family of luxury hotels, an extremely posh office located in Toronto's downtown financial district. The interview went ok. We'll see where it leads, but I have a feeling that kind of corporate culture and I aren't really a great fit.
On the way back, I decided to stop at a coffee shop. Although normally I don't do this, I felt a strong need for a caffeinated beverage and some time to contemplate. I popped into my favourite downtown yarn store and then the cafe a few doors down. I'd brought my knitting, so I pulled it out and began to work.
Knitting in public provokes a lot of reaction. I've never had so many conversations with strangers as since I took it up more seriously and began knitting on public transit. It seems to fascinate people, and it's rare that I don't get at least one comment.
This was no exception. I looked up at one point to see a woman outside the cafe looking at me intently through the window. She looked away when I spotted her, but a few minutes later the door opened and I looked up to see her approaching me. After introductions she said, "Can I ask you a favour?"
"Sure, I don't know if I can do it, but you can ask."
"Can you help me with my knitting? Someone promised me she would help me, but I've been waiting and she never did."
"No problem, go and get it and I'll help you."
She disappeared out the door with effusive expressions of gratitude, and I carried on knitting. While she was away, a guy walked by the window of the cafe, did a double take, came in, and asked about my knitting. He'd just bought the same needles I was using and wanted tips on how to use them. We chatted for a while, and then my original lady showed up again. While the three of us were talking, the guy let it drop that he'd studied theology. It isn't every day you meet that sort of rare bird, so I quizzed him and it turned out we had several friends in common.
He soon had to leave for a class, but the lady and I carried on. As I helped her cast on and decide how many stitches she wanted for the scarf she was making, she told me about her life. She was staying in the shelter across the street, but hoped to move back to her family home in Markham where she'd raised her children. Her daughter was in university and her son had just passed his entrance exams, so she was very proud. She had MS and had been paralyzed from the waist down for a time. She'd taken up knitting in an effort to keep her hands nimble.
It wasn't long before I had to go, but before I went, I prayed for her, physical, spiritual and mental healing, blessing, and a place to live, and invited her to church. She thanked me over and over and left beaming with joy. I left beaming with joy and thanking God. Honestly, there's no better feeling, no greater natural high, than feeling his love pour out through you to someone else.
As I walked home, I thought back to the interview. One of the interviewers had asked, "As you look back, what would you say is your greatest success? It could be work-related or non-work-related." I'd given some BS answer about delivering a website a client was happy with. Now, I realized that answer was a lie. My greatest success is when I love. My most triumphant moment is when I allow God to pour through me to bring blessing and healing to someone else.
The interviewers also asked that standard question: "Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What would be your ideal job?" I answered carefully that my ideal job would be exactly what I'm doing: designing websites. Even then, I knew that was only partly the truth.
If I could pick where I'd be in 5 years, it would be bringing God's healing and love to the poor and the broken. It would be pouring my life out to see them live. It would be living fully immersed in the kingdom of God. It wouldn't be stuck in an office pounding out websites.
How can you say that in an interview? You can't, I guess. But it struck me again how opposite the values of the kingdom of God are to the world's values. How upside-down the kingdom Jesus announced is. It's a kingdom where polish, professionalism, class, and appearances mean nothing. It's a kingdom where loving a poor old homeless woman with MS in a cafe is actually most important.
I know which one I'd rather be giving my life to.
Hatticus is a giant cabled hat topped with a small peak and finished with a huge pom-pom. It's very fun and warm, and a super-quick knit (probably a 2-hour project).
