After the church service we were all eating curry rice together downstairs. In Japan, the churches will often share a meal after the service, and, rather than be confronted about the spiritual implications of whether to call it “pot-luck” or “pot-blessing”, someone will just make a big pot of curry. Harumi (our Pastor’s wife) makes it, and she’s even kind enough to make one batch spicy, and one mild, for the kids.
i try to push myself to use as many Japanese words as possible so that they will hopefully get engrained (ingrown?) into my thick top-knot. This Sunday was no exception. (Don’t you love the way that phrase sounds?) After making for certain that it was socially and culturally acceptable, i went up for seconds. i wanted more of the spicy stuff, but wasn’t sure which pot it was in, the right or the left. So i stood there like a cotton-headed-ninny-muggins for a moment while searching my mind (apparently made of cotton) for the words for “left” and “spicy”.
Got it! “hidari” and “karai” i was feeling pretty good for being able to recall the words, even though in Japanese they are only made up of 3 letters each (think cat, dog…) I got Harumi’s attention and said “Is the one on the left spicy?” Well, that’s what i intended to say. By some cosmic folding of time, or maybe demonic activity, or yet possibly the gentle humbling Hand of Jesus, i mixed the words together and pointing at the pot, with the attention of Harumi and the whole room, said “kirai.”
“i don’t like it!”
I’ll pause and give you a moment of silence to enjoy laughing at my expense.
Of course, everyone was incredibly gracious with my faux pas (a word older people like that i wouldn’t be caught dead using in real conversation) and even more so when i continued to blabber other things that didn’t make sense, trying to cover up. Yes, that’s what my days of “service” to Jesus seem to be filled with— the constant reminders of being childlike, and the absolute assurance that any good thing that comes, will be coming from His Strength and Glory.
Cheers (because you might as well smile in life),
joseph
