The Doctor's Office

Doctor’s Office

Five people were sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office. Just everyday people, in for their annual check up. They were thumbing through magazines, all waiting for their turn so they could get on with their lives. The doctor’s office had a radio on. Everyone in the room was half-heartedly listening to the soft rock that kind of blended into one big, acoustic song. After the Phil Collins two in a row Tuesdays special, the radio station promised to come back with another block of the best music after a short commercial break.
          An advertisement for Sal’s Shoe Shop was the first commercial. The people sitting in the doctor’s office learned that not only does Sal’s have quality shoes, but they have them at quality prices. And for a limited time, they could buy a pair of shoes and get another one half off. They were warned that this deal would not last long so they should “hurry on down to Sal’s.” None of the people felt inspired to “ hurry on down”, so they just sat, forced to endure two more advertisements for the best of something.
          By the fourth commercial, they figured out that the “short commercial break” was not as short as promised. Now they were being told the directions to a new church that was opening in the business district. The church commercial ended with a very interesting question. It was probably just a plug to get more people in. Using the technique of guilt that so many churches use so well, they asked their listeners, “Have you found God yet?”
         That very peculiar question made the people in the room think. Had they, personally, found God yet? The eighty-three-year-old woman sitting by the window was sure she had. She had gone to church every Sunday since she was little. Every time she went, she came back feeling better about the world.
The minute she walked into her church, she felt at home. The smell of perfume and coffee, people in their Sunday best, her friends calling her name, all made her feel wonderful. She would chat for a while, hear about Sue’s granddaughter making the honor roll, or how Helen’s neighbors and their music kept her up all night. After she listened to her friends, she would take her seat, ready to hear the sermon. She loved the sermon, the rise and fall of the preacher’s voice as he told them God’s word. The promises the preacher told, of a better life after death and the constant assurance that there was always someone watching out for her filled her with joy.
         The middle age woman, trying to keep her kids from fighting thought about the question. She was not as sure as the older woman had been. She never had time to go to church and when she went she never felt the peace that she was supposed to feel. She would soon find her mind drifting to what she had to do later or if she had forgotten to add anything to her grocery list.
The only time she ever had a chance to feel at peace was when she swam. She loved the silence. She did not hear the near constant call of Mom while she swam. She heard the muffled splash of her arm cutting through the water and her gasp for air. All she had to think about was her stroke.
         When she swam, she felt at peace with the world. So maybe that was where she found God. God was with her when she swam. It was the only way to explain the absolute relaxation she got from swimming. And the lightness she felt when she got out of the pool, feeling tired and hungry, but happy.
          The teenage boy sitting in the corner was sure he had never found God, because there was not one. God would not have let his dad die of a heart attack. If God was supposed to be watching out for everyone where was he when his dad needed him?
          He was constantly told that it was all part of God’s plan. That statement was wrong in so many ways. First, what kind of God would kill his Dad? If that was the God he was going to find, he would rather not take the time to look. Second, what plan would involve taking out one of the people he loved most? The minute his dad left his life, he realized that God could not exist. 
         The question confused the middle-aged woman’s daughter. She wondered how someone finds God. God was always there. Of course, she had never seen God. But her dad told her he was there and her dad was always right.
The girl wondered what God looked like. He was probably old, he did make the world so he had to be at least fifty. He probably had white hair, because most old people have white hair and wrinkles, too. She also wondered why people were trying to find him. Isn’t he in heaven where he always is supposed to be? God can’t get lost, he made the whole world. Whenever her dad needed help he prayed, so why don’t people just pray? Why do they have to find God? Her dad told her that God was always in your heart, so why are so many people worried about finding him? 
         The question entranced everyone in the room, apart from the girl’s brother, who had contented himself by playing with his ninja turtle doll, or “action figure”. The radio station was well into a “Prince Power Hour”. They were so lost in their thoughts that they never heard the nurse calling for the next person. They were not in a hurry to get on with their lives for a few minutes.