Many moons ago, I was a secretary. My boss didn’t have any choice. His boss said, “You’re getting a secretary, and here she is.” For purposes of this post, we’ll call him Mr. Marc Gibbin.

I showed up at the appointed time with steno book and tested pen in hand. Following the rules, I was punctual, professional, and prepared. I even had a few questions ready for the inevitable “Any questions?”

First up – “Shall I call you Sir, Mr Gibbin, …?” “My name’s Marc, call me Marc.”

He was in his legendary casual position behind a modest & clean desk. He leaned backward a bit awaiting the next question.

“Your coffee, do you take cream? sugar?” “I get my own coffee. I bring it from home, actually.”

I don’t remember more of that day, other than that I wanted to do a good job for the sake of my budding career. His instruction was that I handle the routine paperwork and his occasional requests, and not goof off. If there was nothing needing done, find something, even if it was to look through the training catalog for job growth opportunities.

We got along well. We even had team costumes on the company’s halloween dress-up day – boss & secretary – they never guessed. (Neither of us had shenanigan in our personal job description.)

I built a database tool to add efficiency to my paperwork. My desk was usually clean, and he graciously accepted that while his schedule was more 6-3, mine was more 9-5. (The company allowed arrival 6-9 and departure 3-6.) On occasions when he needed me to be earlier, he’d say so, and I was.

His yoke was easy and his burden was light. (And I was no Mrs Wiggins of Carol Burnett fame!)

One day, I gave some secretaries a presentation on the tool I built. When I returned to my desk, a copy of the handout was there with the following written in pink highlighter: “Good Job! -MG” I didn’t know it, but he had carved time out of his day to attend, then to applaud. That’s a treasure to me.

When it came to gossip, guessing, or wasting company resources (including paid time), he had a gentle but firm no-tolerance policy. There were those who regarded him poorly, I wasn’t one.

A hundred little (and some big) things come to mind, gathered up over several years. I moved to other areas in the organization and occasionally visited him before he retired.  We had become business friends, with trust & admiration going both ways.

The thing is, I started out desiring to do my job well, but then I did my job well because I had a good relationship with my boss. The rules – punctual, professional, prepared – didn’t bring out my best every day. It was his smile. Knowing him, that he was served well, and that he appreciated my efforts – that was the fuel that kept me going.

I’ve worked for the other kind of boss. Driven by rules & clocks & checkmarks, either full-of-themselves or unable to carry a decision in a steel bucket. It’s hard to go to work among those. Resumes stay polished in that environment, or people give up & get lazy.

And therein lies the difference between relationship and rules.

We generally speak of God and the life of faith as though it’s the latter form of drudgery or implacability. On the contrary, He seeks to have relationships filled with trust & admiration. He asks us to do what we know to do – seek justice, love mercy, walk humbly with Him – and follow through on special requests. He also says something about how we use our time. Unlike human bosses, He can guarantee that all required resources will be present when needed. He steps in and helps with, or even does, everything He asks of us.

His yoke is easy and His burden is light. And He smiles.

One more thing – a few decades and relocations later, God gave me a huge treat. He has often heard me mention Marc’s name, wondering how he is, requesting all be well with him & his family, etc. I had business at a local library counter, and there across the way was another customer with an oddly familiar profile. “Excuse me Sir, but are you Mr. Gibbin?” “Yes I am.” The impromptu visit with he and his wife was wonderful.

Sometimes, I believe God does things with the sole goal of seeing us smile. Relationships are like that.