God makes a joke

Praying has become a game of sorts. It goes something like this: “Dear God, please provide me direction in my job search. I want to find a passion that honors You.” Time and again the answer back is silence from the cosmos as I beat my head against a desk five years too long in my possession. But the other day, I got the joke. Of all places, God’s answer came to me on a treadmill.

While walk/jogging I watched an episode of “My name is Earl.” Earl was attempting to resolve a karmic issue while Randy, his really dumb and child-like brother, discovered he had no purpose in life. Realizing this, he sets out to find it. (Hmm, sounds familiar.) In search of purpose, he decided to try different jobs. He signed up to sell cleaning products, test cosmetics and bus tables at the Crab Shack. Meanwhile, Earl continues to right the wrong he’s committed by jumping through hoops to provide the “perfect day” to a guy in prison. Every day, he misses the drop off time at the prison because of all the difficulty he has coordinating his day. Finally, Randy has a day off and helps Earl. He helps him with the wheelchair of a man, getting him downstairs to get a paper. Then, he helps him pick up donuts and finally helps Earl bring the grandmother to the prison inamte for a visit. All of this is achieved quickly, with time to spare. At the end of the show, Earl turns to Randy telling him he needs him. If he’s going to complete all on his list, he needs Randy’s help. Finally, Randy has purpose.

My answer/prayer back to God is this: “I get it. Ha, ha, I am like a really dumb guy on Earl. I am silly and have middle income white girl problems.” Since that moment, several sermons and conversations have highlighted my misguided search for purpose. 

Not to leave with a Ghandi moment but, in case you wanted to know, I feel God did answer the question of purpose. It’s pretty simply (saw that coming, didn’t you?). To love and serve. That’s all. It was good enough for ol’ Randy and it’s good enough for me.