Come, Lord Jesus

This is wierd. Every time the phone rings I look at it in horror. I know that I am supposed to pick it up and say something, but I can't remember what because the ring startles me, causing the phrase "General Mortgage" to dash from my brain leaving me with..."Come Lord Jesus." I am not kidding, I have the urge to say grace. The ritual before-dinner grace of my childhood. The grace I had memorized before I even knew the meaning of the words because it was simply a string of sounds we said before eating - comlorjesusbeorgestanletheesgifstousbeblestamen. The grace that, since leaving home at eighteen, I have said only when I am back in the home of my mother.

I know this is not what I'm supposed to say, so I just wait and stare at the telephone. Usually within one second the correct phrase reenters my head and I can take the call. Sometimes it doesn't return. My eyes widen, my breath catches in my throat. There comes a time when I have to pick up - you can't be the person who is supposed to answer the phone and then just not do it. So I pick it up. I draw a breath. I say, "General Mortgage."

For one call, that breath took a full two seconds. I am sure the person on the other end wondered what was going on, but I couldn't say what wanted to come out. Come Lord Jesus. I mean, where did this come from, some file cabinet in the depths of my mind reserved for memorized passages one must recite on command?

"You want me to say 'General Mortgage' when I answer the phone? Let me just file that right here, next to 'Come Lord Jesus.' Alright, wonderful. Ready to go."

Except that I keep pulling up the wrong file! And if that's the case, how did the newest phrase get filed next to the oldest? Why aren't the Pledge of Allegience, the Lord's Prayer, the Preamble to the Constitution, Bedtime Prayers, or my Miranda Rights popping in as well?

Like I said - this is wierd.