(Part 1)<\/span><\/p>\nJeff was parked in his ancient recliner, wearing a shapeless pair of gray sweats and an \u201cIn It To Win It\u201d T-Shirt. Sections of the morning\u2019s super-size paper surrounded his chair, forming a moat of newsprint. Jeff stared at the tube as the Sunday morning talking heads debate the president\u2019s latest economic stimulus package, each insisting they just wanted to help the American people.<\/p>\n
At the commercial break, Jeff hit the remote. He loathed the suffocating silence in the house, but couldn\u2019t listen to one more syllable of political grandstanding this morning. The true addiction of those rarin\u2019-to-go pols and wonks on camera, and their sycophants pimping off-camera? A thousand meetings, alliances and brokered deals in order to score the addictive emotional cocaine of power.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey call what they do \u2018helping people\u2019, but if any of that happens, it\u2019s only after they\u2019ve gotten their ego fix,\u201d Jeff mumbled out loud. He walked into the kitchen, dumping the remains of his lukewarm coffee into the sink and fishing the last blueberry Pop-Tart out of an almost-empty box. He ate it cold while continuing impassioned sermon to his canine congregation of one.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, they all use each other. They use people and spit them out when they\u2019ve outlived their usefulness or have the misfortune of choosing the wrong allies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like he had.<\/p>\n
He tossed the dog the last bit of his untoasted toaster pastry, and the same weary incomplete thoughts crawled around the rutted track the betrayal had made around the perimeter of his mind.<\/p>\n
He mumbled the only prayer he\u2019d been able to say in weeks: \u201cHow could they do this to me?\u201d<\/p>\n
* * * * * * *<\/p>\n
Frank\u2019s emotionless visage told Jeff everything he needed to know when he walked into that conference room eight months ago. Frank was going to keep this cordial and businesslike, just as Jeff had always coached him to be through the years two had tackled management issues in their organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou probably have some idea what this meeting is about,\u201d Frank said.<\/p>\n
Jeff nodded. After weeks of sensing he was about to get axed, and months before that of losing one workplace political battle after another \u2013 this, after years where everything he touched turned to gold \u2013 Jeff had steeled himself for the inevitable.<\/p>\n
Almost robotically, Frank began his carefully-rehearsed speech, acknowledging Jeff\u2019s years of faithful service, and how Jeff had been instrumental in building the amazing organization around them, and how difficult the decision had been, and just how sorry the entire board was to see things end this way.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to make sure you\u2019re taken care of,\u201d Frank said, pushing a stack of papers toward him from across the conference room table. \u201cWe put together a generous package that will give you and Joanna time to figure out what\u2019s next for the two of you. We\u2019re grateful for your years of service to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Frank wrapped up his speech, Jeff noticed the muffled soundtrack of office activity humming in the background. He could hear the sound of the copier running. Two phones ringing. Though it was after 4 PM, the outer offices were still half-full of employees laughing, talking, finishing up their work day. Jeff had been involved in hiring each one.<\/p>\n
And now, he was being dumped like a bad blind date. Frank had just fired him from the church he and Joanna had started in their living room 14 years earlier.<\/p>\n
(to be continued\u2026)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019ve ever been involved in church leadership, the following work of fiction might read like a true story\u2026 (Part 1) Jeff was parked in his ancient recliner, wearing a shapeless pair of gray sweats and an \u201cIn It To Win It\u201d T-Shirt. Sections of the morning\u2019s super-size paper surrounded his chair, forming a moat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1449,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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