Guest Blogger #17
Well, over halfway through this peculiar experiment and we haven't had any dark days yet, although I've had to do some tweaking of the schedule. My thanks to all who've participated and who will. I hope you're enjoying getting some different flavors here.
Linea has been a presence around this blog since the beginning, I think, and I've been reading her for just as long. She lives in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and as I do with Liz in Sweden, occasionally I'll let my eyes wander from the computer to the world map above my desk, locate the Dakotas, move north, and wonder how Linea's day is going.
She and her husband are planning a trip in August to one of my favorite Pacific Northwest spots, Cannon Beach on the Oregon coast, so with any luck we'll be able to hook up, break some bread and get acquainted in a non-virtual way. It'd be fun to meet a blogging friend, and healthy, too; I mean,it's a guarantee that before I see her, I'm flossing. Big time.
Unlike Sin
By Linea Lanoie
There are days when I sympathize with pastors. You know how people will suddenly stop swearing or telling lewd jokes when a pastor is identified in the vicinity? I have heard from reliable sources how there are times when pastors would like to be invisible - just ordinary people so that others around them could just act their normal selves instead of slipping on a false mask of piety or tripping over their tongues in apology. Some pastors have divulged that they would appreciate just being treated like ordinary sinners, not like someone too delicate for the realities of life.
Some days that is how I feel too. I guess I should qualify that a bit. I don't end up feeling set apart from ordinary humans because of my great holiness, perceived or real. I don't think most people mistake dentists for holy people. Maybe the opposite.
My problem seems to stem from another misperception. People seem to think that the first thing I notice about them is their state of oral perfection and cleanliness. And that my primary interest in them is the state of their flossing. Why, even Chuck said I could come and visit him but I could not look at his teeth.
The other day, I attended a wedding. I wondered how my relationship to the bride would be explained. I was secretly dreading being introduced as her dentist. I mean, how many people invite their dentists to an event where one of the primary activities is eating cake? That would be the equivalent of inviting the pastor on a pub crawl. But there you go; one of the ways we know each other is this strange dentist/patient relationship. And sure enough, the dentist thing came up. Which I forgive her for. Our friendship is based on more than that one aspect of knowing each other.
Being introduced as someone’s dentist would not be so difficult if people did not start react so peculiarly. I am basically just another cake-eating human. But, right away, people around begin to apologize for the cake and other sweet delights heaped on their plates. A moment before you were introduced, they were eating right in front of you with enjoyment. The transformation! Out come guilty looks and fervent claims as to how often they brush. Then the floss references begin. Everyone apologizes. Because, unlike sin, nobody flosses often enough. Like sin, the admittance of this fault provokes great discomfort.
Come to think of it, that may be one of the strangest things about having my pastor as a patient. I sin. He loves cherry sours. He provides my spiritual direction. I encourage him to floss more. The rest of the time I hope we are mainly friends. But he is overdue for a check-up.
8:04:18 AM 
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