My Esteemed Guest
photo by bgwalker on iStock
by Dale Guenter
Would I be able to find words? What words would I weave with the great word wizard? What words might pique his interest? What discourse might entice? Entertain? My sister suggested three pithy questions. I woke in the night making a list of more. A few things to keep conversation going. Were any of these any good?
My colleague hopped in the car. We were going together to meet him at the airport. I shared the story of my twitchy anticipation. She commiserated. She had also been awake with the jitters. I told her of my little list of questions. She replied, “Oh, I just got up and made muffins. When going to the airport I always need to bring muffins.”
I was quickly reassured. This was a fine offering indeed. Maybe the list of questions could be abandoned?
We sat and waited in the airport arrivals area, wondering what was going on. His flight had landed an hour earlier, but he still hadn’t walked through the door. The questions on my list danced around the muffins and my stomach gurgled. And would I even recognize him?
But when the door opened and he walked through, I knew instantly who he was. I also knew I would not need the questions. And I knew that somehow the muffins would bring us all beautifully together.
I waved. He smiled at me, the stranger. I have no idea anymore what he said, only that I knew with certainty that this would be fine. We could simply be humans together. She passed him the muffins. His face lit up. It was all fine, much more than fine.
For months, I had been anticipating the next 24 hours and it had begun. I could hardly believe it. Twenty-four hours as host and chauffeur for Pádraig Ó Tuama, Irish poet, theologian and conflict mediator – at our faculty development event in Hamilton.
And indeed, everything was so very human.
Dale Guenter
is a program mentor in the SoulGuiding program of Pacific Jubilee. He is currently inventing his post-retirement life, which involves offering spiritual accompaniment, experiencing nature in as many ways as possible, perfecting home-making skills, and organizing inspiration and wellness activities for faculty at McMaster University.
Read about Dale's spiritual accompaniment practice here.
