I have a friend named Elaine who is known in her circles as a humorist.  My sisters and I attended one of her speeches and laughed until tears ran down our faces.  Elaine told me that she didn’t set out to be a humorist, but that when she spoke of her daily life, people laughed.

A few years ago, some new shoes became available.  They were athletic shoes and the heels had little springs in them–shock absorbers.  I wanted these shoes.  They were light weight and appeared to be comfortable, the perfect thing for a lot of walking.  The first store didn’t have them in my size and suggested I go to the outlet mall.  I did find them at the outlet mall, but the only color was bright yellow.  I bought them and brought them home with the idea of thinking it over.   I took the shoes to Elaine and showed them to her.  We talked for some time about the pros and cons of those shoes.  Finally she said, “The thing is, I would probably wear those shoes.”  Eventually I took the shoes back to the store, but I stored away Elaine’s comment.

I thought of Elaine a few days ago as I was pausing in my ascent to the fifth floor of the teaching building.  I saw several students wearing bright yellow shoes.  “Must contact Elaine,” I thought and proceed to class.  A student came to me with a request, and I asked her English name.  “Elaine” she said.   “Must contact my friend,” I thought, and proceeded with class.

At the break in class, I went to the restroom, but it was crowded, so I decided to wait for the longer break between classes.  At that time I went to the restroom and it was still crowded.  I went down one floor, checked that restroom.  Still crowded, so I waited in line.  The process in a Chinese restroom is to wait in front of a particular stall until it becomes available, so that is what I did.  I went into the stall and felt water dripping from the ceiling.  Not an option to leave that stall and wait for another.  I turned around to avoid the ceiling drip and prepared to squat facing the pipe instead of the door.  I squatted and felt water spraying in my face.  The pipe that holds the flush handle was leaking at an alarming rate.  But no stopping now–I turned my face away, only to feel more water from above.

I was upset until I pictured Elaine bouncing around on stage wearing bright yellow shoes telling this story. Those little shock absorbers would help in the squat.  Elaine would use the story not to discuss plumbing problems, but to illustrate grand ideas: rushing water, living water, abundant life.  Thanks, Elaine.