Forewarning... I'm tired, so if this don't make a lot of sense, call it "abstract writing" LOL
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When I was a little kid, I remember that there was nothing more that I wanted to do then to be Squad 51. I wanted to be just like Roy and Johnny, because not only were they firefighters, but they were also Paramedics, and they did the neat rescue call as well.
Oh yeah - that was me. I wasn't just going to be fighting fires - I was going to be doing special rescues and saving lives and repelling down cliffs and climbing giant ladders.
...Then I realized that I sometimes have a fear of heights.
There are lots of aspects of my job that I enjoy. I can tell you the name of the first child I baptized, what date it was, and the fact that he had to travel 1000 miles for me to baptize him in my church (Seriously! But that's another story).
I can also tell you about the first couple I married, and how I was feeling when they found me in my office.
Or about the Confirmation student whose favorite basketball team was a rival of the Resident Bishop (and she made sure he knew it - again, another story for another time).
I can also tell you about when I looked up and there wasn't a dry eye in the church because great-grandpa was singing a solo as I was walking a baby around after her baptism.
And there was the time that a 99-year old woman had the entire church rolling in the aisles, and left me speechless (which you know is hard to do).
And we can't forget when the lady made a speech in church, and then promptly kissed the top of my bald head.
Yes, we all have things in our jobs that bring back fond memories, or something that makes us laugh. Like a firefighter who had fun teaching kids about fire safety, and one of the children asks that "certain wrong question" that only mommy or daddy should answer.
Or when the police officer gets a kind "thank you" for calling a tow truck for someone.
Or when the Medic offers a little child a band-aid for a girl's dolly who has a "boo boo".
But all also have those "moments" that we wish we didn't have.
I remember I once asked a Firefighter/Medic "What's your favorite kind of call?" He answered "the call I never have to respond to."
I now use that as a mantra as well. I volunteer on a Department because it's needed, it's a civic duty, and because I have a gift, but I hope that I never have to use that gift. I pray that I have to replace the battery in my pager because of non-use.
Think of that Firefighter that is teaching fire safety. Maybe it's because he or she just had to pull some people out of a burning building.
Consider the Police Officer who called the tow truck for someone. Maybe the tow truck is to clear the fatal accident that took the lives of some little kid's parents.
Remember that Medic when they walk by you, trying to release their tnesion. Maybe they just had to play nice to a little girl and her dolly while mommy and daddy had to go to the hospital from a horrific accident.
Just as I think of all of the good times I've had in my 8 years so far as a Pastor, I've also had many tears and hardship. I've buried many friends. Today was no exception.
I enjoy the aspect of being there for people, but I greive as well, and it's just as hard for many Pastors, in their own way, to grieve, when we've lost someone we've gotten to know so well.
I think about a reply my brother made about a challenge I recently had - as a Pastor, I was one of the judges at a local festival Pie Baking Contest. (Sounds good so far, huh?). But when I'm working to lose weight, living up to all sorts of responsibilities can be tough. Even though I only had a bite of each pie, there were 21 pies there... 21 bites equals about 3 or 4 slices of pie. As one man pointed out to me today - in winetasting, people are given buckets to spit the wine into. Where was mine? Well, after about halfway, I needed a bucket, because this boy was getting full (and ill), and fast!
I like pie, and I had fun but now I wish I didn't have to do that part of my job.
Anyways - as I look at the time and realize that an aspect of my job is to also meet with families to help plan the funerals of their loved ones, so I need to wrap this up...
Remember that just like you have you're good days and bad days, so does everyone else. Don't complain when someone isn't as nice to you as you think they should be... maybe you weren't as nice as you should have been. Consider all of the "what ifs", and have a nice day, because if you let the small stuff get you, tomorrow is only going to be worse.
And again, consider the other person. (It's sort of like "love thy neighbor")
