One
A CEO of a highly successful upstart company is burning out, severely stressed, and believes his time is short. He’s plotting one last gamble. We find him lying on a couch confiding with a psychiatrist who is seated in a chair.
DOCTOR: The questionnaire you filled out says you’re not sleeping. How long have you suffered with these anxieties?
CEO: Ever since I was fired. There was only one corporate rung higher than mine and I decided to climb it. Big deal. Cream is supposed to rise.
DOCTOR: I read about that. Reports say your fall was like lightening. Didn’t you take a full third of the company workforce with you?
CEO: I created my own network, revamping a new corporate power pyramid. Like the song says, I did it my way. I have no regrets about my decision. None!
DOCTOR: But you and your entire workforce lost out on your benefits!
CEO: When I finally take over, that will be rectified.
DOCTOR: Remember the tests I administered? In your Inkblot test, all you could see was chaos and destruction, coupled with your own sure rise to power. Let’s talk about that.
CEO: I’m less a corporate creator and more of a corporate raider. I take things apart, scrap what’s useless, and profit. My sole goal is simple: total domination. I intend to gain the whole world.
DOCTOR: But there is so much more to life than merely winning. What about your soul? What good will gaining the world do if you lose your soul?
CEO: Ain’t gonna happen, Doc. I will win!
DOCTOR: Tell me about your childhood.
CEO: I never had a childhood. One day, I was suddenly at the right hand of the Man. All was fine till my great epiphany! I realized that I could do his job better than him. He got jealous, saw my talents as a threat, and canned me.
DOCTOR: Something is repressed here. The total rejection you’re describing here can be devastating to the psyche. You’re clearly suffering from a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but from what?
CEO: The cause of my stress? I was replaced! He goes out, digs up some dirtball, and makes him the vice-CEO, the new prince; it burned me bad. It’s unfair. His whole system is unfair!
DOCTOR: Did you want to be like Him?
CEO: NO! I wanted to be… Him. Is that so wrong?
DOCTOR: So you and your former employer had… relational conflict?
CEO: That’s a nice way to say it. It continues unabated to this day. He plays favorites. Overnight, he exhales and promotes some nameless dust bunny as Operations Manager over everything!
DOCTOR: This is a classic love/hate relationship. And, if I may speak freely, it sounds your professional goals were a tad bit unrealistic. A company can only have one CEO.
CEO: That’s why I broke with him. I was a senior partner on the board of directors. I didn’t like the way things were going and I had a right to make some necessary management changes, do a little painful but very necessary corporate restructuring. He deserved to be overthrown!
DOCTOR: But you failed…
CEO: Not yet I haven’t!
DOCTOR: Did you try to reconcile? Ask for forgiveness?
CEO: There’s no redemption for my kind; only for dirtballs and dust bunnies; dirty humans! Besides, he called me a rebel and said I could go to Hell, and said he would see to it personally.
DOCTOR: So the break was permanent. Is that why you went inde…?
CEO: Actually, as a point of pride, I refused to apologize! And I’m doing great! We’ve had to enlarge our operation to make room for all of my acquisitions. We have far more clients than the Competition.
DOCTOR: Are they satisfied?
CEO: The clients? Who cares? They’re collateral damage. It’s not about them, anyway. It’s about me getting back at Him!
DOCTOR: I read His Corporate Report and one of his stated goals, promised to his stockholders, is to permanently put you out of business.
CEO: Yeah, and whenever I get a communication from his office, it is always addressed to “The Lake of The Fired”. He’s soooo unfunny. Remember this: I’ve tasted momentary victory. I nearly had him at that grotesque “Back From The Dead” party of his.
DOCTOR: He did come out of that one alive, though.
CEO: Don’t remind me. OK, so I miscalculated, but I swear I’ll put his lights out yet!
DOCTOR: You’re in danger of developing a Messiah complex.
CEO: Like I haven’t heard that one before. Besides, Messiahs are into seeking and saving. I’m more about seeking and keeping - or destroying when necessary.
DOCTOR: How do you plan to resolve your conflict with Him? Is a truce possible?
CEO: Truce? You don’t get either one of us, do you? I’m going for one final corporate raid. Winner takes all.
DOCTOR: You’re quite the devil, aren’t you?
CEO: You’re catching on.
DOCTOR: Does this grand strategy of your have a name?
CEO: Haven’t you guessed? It’s called Armageddon! ________________________________________
Bryan Hupperts © 2006 - 2009
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