He’s a Dentist

My dentist fixes flat tires.  I know because he fixed mine.  I don’t know if he does it for everybody, but I do know that he did it for me, and I was truly surprised.   I have been thinking about it ever since.

Tammy and Sam had a dentist appointment to get their teeth cleaned yesterday.  When they arrived and went in to the dentist’s office, everything appeared normal.  They got their teeth cleaned, saw the dentist for a few minutes, then left the office as usual.  While walking to the van, they looked up and noticed the right front tire was flat.  Shortly after that, I got a phone call, just as I was buying my lunch.  It seemed I was going to spend my lunch hour helping them change a tire, so I jumped in my car and headed for the dentist’s office.

When I arrived, I noticed a guy was standing out by Tammy’s van, helping with the task.  As I parked and got out of the car, I was surprised to see the good Samaritan was none other than our dentist.  He said hello and joked about getting a round tire next time instead of one that was flat on one side.

As I focused on the task at hand, he proceeded to help with the details.  I jacked up the van then he loaned me a tire iron so I could loosen the lug nuts and pull the flat tire off.   He and Tammy found the hole, then the good doctor promptly pulled a patch kit out of his trunk and proceeded to repair the tire.  By the time I got the spare on the van, he had already plugged the hole in the original tire and had whipped out a portable air compressor.  He had the patched tire almost full of air by the time I tightened the last lug nut on the spare.   I think he was almost disappointed that I didn’t just put the original tire back on.   I was unsure the plug would hold.  It has.  I guess you should never second guess a dentist when it comes to filling holes, in teeth or tires.

I left Tammy packing the jack and tools back in the van and I headed back to the office.  Ever since then, I have been thinking about this dentist-turned-mechanic who was prepared, ready, willing, and able to help in a way I would never have expected.  I expected him to be a dentist.  But he would not be so narrowly defined.  Dentist is but one line on his resume.  “Mechanic,” and “Good Samaritan” are also there.  Perhaps there are many other lines I would never guess.

I am still thinking about it.  I am also wondering who else I have defined too narrowly.  I am wondering how many people thought of Jesus as only a carpenter?  I wonder even if the apostle Paul thought of himself as a missionary, or just a tent maker?  Maybe we all define people, and even ourselves, too narrowly.  Maybe we should consider there is more about people than we will ever know.  Maybe.  But what do I know?  I’m just a computer guy.