All Around the Circle

 
I’m not alone in saying that I have been all around the circle, in the sense that I have been to “Fogo, Twillingate, Moreton’s Harbour”, the places named in the Newfoundland folk song, I’se the B’y.
 
I had an uncle who sold medical supplies to hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices all along that coast. I sometimes traveled with him. When he was inside the building delivering supplies, I was relegated to the back seat, where I was to stay. I was sternly warned not to go looking for trouble.
 
I wasn’t the sort of kid who got into much trouble and I certainly didn’t go looking for it. If I did get into trouble I was pretty sure that it was trouble that came looking for me. I am quite sure that if I hadn’t been relegated to the back seat that day, I would have alluded trouble all together.
 
I wanted desperately to walk over to the wharf and look into the fishing boats or make my way down to the beach where I could further hone my skills as a world class rock skipper.
 
Trouble found me in the form of an older boy banging on the window of the car, already well into an argument with me that was I was oblivious to. As near as I could make out at first, I had offended his sensibility  and that had caused him to question my parent’s marital status.

I’m not one who’s easily offended so I was willing to hear him out, at least until I could ascertain what troubled him so.
 
Apparently, we were parked in his parking spot. I don’t think there was accessible parking spots back then—so, that wasn’t the issue. We were not near any delivery door. In fact we were about as far from the building as we could get, plus there were many other parking spaces available.
 
My uncle had left the keys in the ignition, so I’d have the radio to keep me company and out of trouble. I assured my assailant that I was too young to drive and that I wouldn’t unlock the doors so he could park the car properly and out of everyone’s bleeping way. I was pretty sure letting him drive the car was exactly the kind of trouble my uncle wanted me to stay out of.
 
Despite his threats and besmirching my parent’s good reputation, and now specifically my mother—I held my ground. Safely locked inside of the car that, as far as I was concerned, was going to remain parked until my uncle reappeared.
 
It was then that I heard my uncle’s voice, sounding a lot like a Newfoundland version of Foghorn Leghorn, “What seems to be the problem, boy!”
 
My assailant turned and saw my uncle, a large man, walking confidently towards him. “Nothing Sir…” And the boy seemed to quickly disappear.
 
My uncle got in the car turned the ignition and started to drive to the next location. He looked in the rear view mirror at me and said, “What did I tell you about looking for trouble?”
 
I said nothing, I knew he was joking. I knew he knew that I wasn’t looking for trouble, trouble found me.

Whether trouble finds us or we go looking for it the parable of the Prodigal Son reminds us of God’s forgiveness – all around the circle. All day, every day.