I know I’m wrong about a lot of things, just ask the Gracious Mistress at the parsonage. If she could be right as many times as I am wrong, she would be a genius. The problem is that I’m more wrong than right, which throws me off balance a bit.

People always say things they don’t really mean. I guess they’re just trying to be nice and courteous.

For example. My wife will say when she leaves the door to go somewhere, “Drive carefully.”

I do not know what that means. Do you think I’m going to drive like an idiot? Well, maybe that’s not a good illustration.

Another is that if you go to a party, someone will tell you, “Have fun.”

Does that mean they’re under the impression that you’re not going to have fun unless you’re tempted? Why do people always say things like that?

We always say things we don’t mean.

Of course, I’m always a little cautious about certain things my wife says to me. The most infamous would be: “Does this dress make me look fat?” I’m not sure who came up with that, but her head wasn’t turning in the right direction.

After giving it some thought, I get the impression that if someone asks me that question, particularly if it’s my wife, they’re not looking for the right answer. They are looking for a compliment.

Is it more important to tell the truth or to encourage someone? That has always been my dilemma.

A question has bothered me for a long time. I must confess that I have done it myself, but it still bothers me. It’s when we meet someone and say, “Hi, how are you?”

Why do we say something like that? Every time I ask someone how they are, I really don’t want them to tell me how they are. I’m trying to be courteous and kind. I don’t want to know the details of his life.

Like I said, I find myself saying the same thing. I am trying to get over this phrase addiction and will probably need several months in some rehab center. It might be worth getting this out of my conversation.

I don’t know if he was just having a bad day or if he was just fed up with this question. Not long ago I was walking out of the grocery store and someone greeted me and said, “Hi, how are you today?”

Something took hold of me. To this day I cannot explain what in the world made me do what I did. But I did and there it is.

I realized that the person who asked the question was in a hurry to get into the grocery store, but I did anyway. He asked how she was and I stopped him and told him how she was.

“I’m glad you asked,” I began, “because I’m not feeling too good today.” I could tell he was trying to get past me, but he was going to have my say no matter what.

“I hurt my big toe this morning, I think I broke a toenail. I’ve been limping all day and I’m getting tired.”

He looked at me and then looked at the grocery store, but I pretended like I didn’t see.

“I woke up this morning,” I continued as if I had nothing else to do in the world, “with my back hurting so much I could hardly get out of bed. I’m not really sure what happened, but boy did it.” It really hurts”.

She looked at her watch and then back at the grocery store entrance, but I kept pretending I didn’t see her.

“My day hasn’t been going too well,” I complained to him, “I seem to be late for everything. I missed my doctor’s appointment this morning and I’m not sure when I’ll be back.” go see that doctor.”

I could see that he was getting very nervous and almost agitated. He tried to interrupt me, but I pretended he hadn’t noticed.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with my car. There’s a big noise from the engine and I’m not sure if I should take it or what I should do with it.”

“Well,” he said rather anxiously, “I have to go into the store.” With that, he quickly walked away muttering.

I’m sure he talked about it all the time with his friends. He probably thought he was crazy. Sometimes it’s good to be crazy. After all, he’s the one who asked me how he was. If he didn’t want to know how he was, why did he ask me how he was?

I laughed to myself and then started thinking about my prayer life. I wonder how many times I do that in my prayer life. I pray for something, but I’m really not that interested in it.

I wonder if Jesus had this in mind when he said, “And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22).

The prayer is not meaningless gibberish, but a faith-centered request.