Father Joeker

BOSSing around

One talk in the Nemi Renewal Course was on how to express anger.  I shared with the group that in Japan, there’s a replica of the Boss in the basement of a particular factory.  Workers who dislike or get annoyed with the Boss can go down and ‘pulverize’ his replica with kicks and Manny Pacquiao-like punches.  After that they feel better and go back to work again.  Coming to the point I said, ‘Imagine you’re a tennis player and see the ball as the head of someone whom you simply don’t get along with, you’ll certainly hit it like a mad man . . .  Everybody will befriend you’.

Quick associations

Madam Esther Rhule, Directress of Our Lady of Fatima Vocational and Business School, had two visitors from her hometown, Paul and Alice. After few days in Wenchi, I happened to be going down to Accra and Madam requested if the visitors could join me. Before we finally left, one of the bystanders asked Madam, ‘Where are they going?’ In my usual quick manner, I answered, ‘Paul is going back to Tarsus, Alice and I to Wonderland.’

Joeker’s Time

At Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia, on my last home leave, I was sitting with a group of Filipinos.  One of them called his friends in the Philippines by cellphone to remind them that our arrival was at 7pm, not 9pm as he had mistakenly informed them.  ‘Ako rin’, said the other, ‘I told them 10pm’.  Whereupon I joined, ‘Good for you, your mistake is by hours, mine – by a day.  The date I gave them was yesterday’s, not today’s’.

Of Course?

While in Ghana I received a questionnaire from Fr Ittoop concerning the Renewal Course in Nemi, Rome.  One of the items was, ‘State your personal reasons why you want to join the course.’  I wrote, ‘For the same reason that you are running the course.’  Another question was on mental and physical health where I answered, ‘By the way, I’m coming with my tennis racquet.’  True enough I was among the chosen few.