I went to the door and looked out to him asking what it was he wanted. He told me that I needed to let him in that this was his place. Despite the fact that I didn’t recognize him, I opened the door for him and let him in. He immediately stepped in and stood tall like he owned the place and was in charge and in fact he did. I knew instantly that his was the Ted everyone has talked so about. So I knew it was okay I had let him in and did not fear him. No one had ever told me that he was coming to our office. He was not expected. No one had ever described to me his physical form nor the sound of his voice but I knew instantly that this handsome man with a commanding presence was the man in charge. The head honcho, Ted himself.
I walked somewhere on the company property with him and we admired some grand moving installation that he had engineered. It reminded me of Disney World and the fantastic work of the Imagineers. Ted reminded me of a cross between Walt Disney and Steve Jobs of Apple. I asked him how it worked and laughed and said “tape and string.” I was awed and realized then that I was lucky to have this great man alone to myself for a few minutes before the others arrived. I wanted to talk with him, get to know him and have him remember me. I was so happy to know that this was who I worked for and became all the more excited about being a part of the grand things he imagined and thus created. I introduced myself to him telling him my name and that I was a rather new hiree and very excited to be part of his team.
He asked me to tell him something nice about family, myself, and my husband. I proudly told him that my husband and I had been married thirty years and had two children now 24 and 22. I told him that my husband and I worked together as a creative team, we were home builders and had owned a restaurant. I also told him that I was an artist, a very good painter collected by many. I told him I was a colorist. He seemed impressed and interested in seeing some of artwork. He wished to have some images of water for the offices.
They next thing I remember is that I was helping him carry something large that would help his car run better. I remember walking so very close to him and that it was actually very intimate and thought that I was perhaps too close but then I realized that if I was to help him as he wished I had to walk that close to him. The next memory I have is again walking with him inside the company headquarters and going past some project I had worked on and pointing it out to him. He remarked that it was nice and had value.
We were going to go to higher level of the building together to talk to others and the only way I knew to go was up some narrow rickety ladder. I was talking to him all the while but soon realized that he was depending on me to carry him and I was but he was not heavy. It was like he was a baby and I held him close in my arms. He was depending on me to take him to the others. When I realized how silly it was that I was using this flimsy ladder to ascend, I stopped where I was to call someone and ask where the grand staircase was as I had Ted with me and was talking with him.
Whoever I was talking to about Ted was more than surprised at what I said. Their voice sounded incredulous, as if they didn’t believe what I said was possible or true. You see, even though there were a great number of people working in this grand building for this man they reverently called Ted, none had actually ever seen him nor heard his voice. They were all just doing work per some very old orders left behind so very long ago.
I believe this Ted had been standing just outside those glass doors the whole time knocking and calling out hoping to catch the attention of all those busy doing whatever it was they did. They weren’t expecting him to come check in on them as they believed he was far away and way too busy to speak personally with them and help them direct their affairs. But not I, I heard the knock within the silence and opened the door and welcomed him in. I told him I was excited to meet him face to face and hear what he had to say and learn from him.
He showed me that I had to follow him and walk so very close that I walked intimately with him in the world to be his vehicle and that my very hands and feet and voice is what he needed to let all his people know he was so very near, so near that he is here. Do you hear me? This is the message of today.