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July-September, 2022

Liar, Liar

by Rev. Paula Richards, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

“Massachusetts.” Usually, I wouldn’t pick up, but I noticed the same number calling for the third time and intuition told me it was important.

The caller turned out to be someone inquiring about my ministerial counseling, so I was relieved that I had answered. I apologized for not having picked up before, saying that the ID only said Massachusetts and I thought it might be a scam.

To my surprise, the woman tersely said, “That’s not possible. My name and number always show up.”

“I’m just telling you what a saw.” I replied.
“You are a liar,” she snapped. “How dare you call yourself a minister and then lie like that?!”

After I got over being shocked, I calmly asked her for more information about why she had called in the first place, but she just continued her verbal attack, which was getting more heated by the minute. On and on she went, giving me no chance to reply. 

Since I have difficulty hearing, my phone was set to speaker mode, so my friend was hearing the whole conversation. Hands on her hips, eyes narrowed, I could see she was ready to grab the phone from me and give the caller an earful, but I waved her away. I knew that defense was not the answer. The caller was clearly troubled, and I knew this wasn’t about me. Still, my hands were shaking at the unexpected assault.

As the caller ranted on, I took a slow breath and silently asked Holy Spirit for guidance. Since this was a one-sided tirade with no hope for a dialogue, my next thought was that I might have to simply, quietly hang up.

I would begin by trying to interject that this conversation was unacceptable and wish her well, but I didn’t have much hope that she would hear me. Before I could say or do anything more, the caller abruptly hung up on me.  

Not being used to that type of confrontation, it took me a few minutes to regain my composure. Once I did, I blocked the caller from calling back and mentally sent her a healing prayer for inner peace. As I sat there wondering if there was something more effective I could have done and what this whole incident was for, my friend shook her head.

“Wow,” she said. “I was ready to blast her out, but you handled it so calmly and lovingly. There would have been quite a different outcome if you had handed the phone to me. I’m glad I got to see that.”

I know that everything is either love, or a call for love, but I am smiling as I realize that this was, quite literally, a “call” for love. I am so grateful that I realized this and didn’t fall into victim mode.

Although the caller seemed unable to receive the love I was offering during the call, I am at peace, knowing that love is all I offered.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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