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When Good Intentions Go Bad

By Joey Havens

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Our good pal, Father Albeen has been left as the last option for the 7 a.m. livestream mass, which also has a church full of parishioners. It’s basically the Oscars of our parish but with less red carpet and more Hail Marys.

The original headliner for the day has messed up his timekeeping and now it’s up to Father Albeen to save the day. The poor chap barely has time to brush his teeth and shower before he’s shimmying into his Sunday best and making a mad dash for the garage. Hitting the garage opener, he dives into his car, cranks up, throws it into reverse and BANG! He rams the garage door, which was sleepily making its climb upward.

The door’s now jammed tighter than a choirboy’s collar on Christmas Eve, and even his trusty motorcycle refuses to sneak underneath it. After a frantic call to the church for a ride, Father Albeen arrives a few minutes late to deliver his sermon. Though it was a bit more rapid-fire than usual, I can assure you it was still top-notch.

Now Father Albeen and I, we’ve become bosom buddies, and he’s given me the green light to share this hilarious tale. When he first told me, I laughed so hard my sides hurt. The story was a live reenactment of the phrase, Be Quick, but Don’t Hurry. It also underlines a juicy leadership lesson – the importance of self-management. No matter how noble our intentions are, we’re still responsible for our actions and their consequences. How often do we use good intentions to justify our lapses in judgment?

This brings me to the mystery dent on our garage door, right where CeCe parks her car. CeCe, what happened to the garage door? I don’t know…..

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