Wondering Presbyterian

What was I thinking five years ago when I offered to take some hitchhikers to Walmart? Five years ago, I was living in Illinois and at work one day when a father and son came into the church looking for some help. Our church was tucked away off the beaten path, and not the first church this father-son duo would have come across, so the fact that they ended up in our church was suspect. He said he found out that I was the president of the ministerial association (the group of local pastors that got together once a month in town) and he found out what church I worked in. That's how they found me. The father pointed to his son's shoes, which were clearly barely holding together. A few more steps, and I'm sure they would disintegrate into dust. Could we help? He explained that they were hitchhiking across the country. When I pointed out that hitchhiking was illegal, he shrugged and told me some of the things they had seen along the way. Some really cool things. It took them

            My husband’s car doesn’t have arm rests. I can never quite figure out where to put my arms when a car doesn’t have arm rests, especially the left arm where there isn’t even a window ledge. Eventually I end up crossing my arms and inevitably, David will ask me, “What’s wrong?”             “Nothing. I just don’t know what else to do with my arms.”             I’ve been thinking a lot about body language this week. Arms crossed over my chest generally communicates that I’m annoyed about something, even when the reality is that I just don’t know what else to do with my arms. I go to a lot of meetings (some months, an ungodly number of meetings) and a lot of people glue their eyes to screens, whether it’s computer screens or phone screens. A guest at a meeting mentioned to me recently that she was incredibly put off by the number of people who didn’t look up while she was talking.             I forget sometimes how much the body talks. I’m a huge fan of communication,