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There is something special about Aunt Gayle, and not just that she is voiced by the outstanding Megan Mullally. Sister to Linda, foil to Bob, she is always a fun if disruptive addition to the family as she meanders her way through life. Gayle is eccentric, naïve, and emotionally fragile. In “Art Crawl”, her first appearance, Bob reminds the kids that they don’t tell her anything she can’t handle, that they should “treat her like a mental patient.” It seems harsh, and then you meet her. And, well… you begin to understand, harsh as it may be, the reasoning for making it clear to the kids that they can’t make fun of her or what she is doing. And what she’s doing in this episode is painting lots of pictures of animals. Cute animals. But animals… let’s just say: facing the opposite way you might expect, highlighting a part of them that isn’t very flattering. When Edith, chairperson of the art festival calls them “obscene”, she’s not exaggerating as much as usual. But back to Gayle, who hasn’t settled much in the following seasons, but has become – thankfully – a more regular presence in the show and family. And what’s come of that are some really amazing glimpses into this peculiar person who is, to be sure, an outlier on a show of outliers, but in her awareness of it takes opportunities to share from it. In season 4, episode 19, “The Kids Run Away”, everybody has an idea of how to get Louise to get her cavity filled, something she ran away (staying with Aunt Gayle in “the best studio apartment ever”) to avoid. No one is able to get her to budge, no one but Gayle who, in a moment of beautiful vulnerability and clarity, offers to Louise the solution. Soon after they are at the dentist, or in that delightful moment: the medical officer of a spy agency that has to perform emergency dental surgery on their top agent Louise to retrieve the information hidden in her tooth and save the universe. The whole family gets into it, and Louise gets her cavity filled, even without biting or slapping Dr. Yap (this time). It’s successes like these that make Gayle such an endearing character, that she lives conscious of who she is and is willing to share who she is with others. I often hear something to the effect of: “if them, why not me?” The idea being that if someone can do it, why can’t I? Usually it’s someone unexpected doing something unexpected, and is meant as an encouragement that if they can, I can. And while it can be used a bit dismissively of others, and of what it may have required for their achievement, I believe that can be a beautiful and helpful way to see things, to be reminded of the capacity we have in us and through God’s call and empowerment, to be inspired by the ways others have succeeded. And I believe we need to be ready to say it to ourselves the other way: “If me, why not them?” It can be difficult to accept grace for ourselves. I get that… we know ourselves. How could it possibly be sufficient? And sometimes it’s difficult to imagine grace for others. To imagine God loving someone abhorrent to us, for God to be at work in a person we can’t even be around, or forgive someone we can’t. But such is the way of God, of God’s faithful love. It goes beyond our boundaries, our preferences, even our understanding. Sometimes we are reminded of that when we receive it in our own lives. And sometimes when we see it in the lives of others. I’m guessing we all know some Gayles, someone who raises our hackles or our guards. But they also have something to offer, to us and to the world. Gayle reminds me that there is beauty in all of God’s creation and in all of God’s children. Sometimes it takes some patience, understanding, and a little more patience to experience that gift, but after all: if me, why not them? Rev. Ben Richards Ps. I hope to see you in worship this Sunday, in person or online, when The Gospel of Bob’s Burgers continues with Tina. If you’d like to watch the “extra credit” episode in advance, it’s the 11th episode of season 10, “Drumforgiven”.
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