My Word

"Are you still in the word," was the question at a recent family reunion. After quickly translating what he meant, I dutifully answered, "Yes, sir," hoping this would satisfy this cousin by marriage and we could walk away with our second helping of pole beans unscathed and moving in separate directions. Not so fast. Second question emerged with gusto. "But are you deep in the word?" Now I'm feeling less polite and more like a kid being tested. It was a family reunion. There were pole beans. Of course the answer was still yes, but after answering I was lectured.

Why didn't he ask me this question, "Are you still feeding the hungry?" "Don't you work with women on issues related to maternal health? How is that going?" Because, in my opinion, if one was concerned about my "deep in the word(-ness)," the better question to ask might be, "How are those Millennium Development Goals, any progress?"
S

(thanks myrecipes.com for the photo)