Emphatically - YES!
A good friend recently asked, “Are you doing what you want to be doing?”
My answer? Emphatically - YES. This is a great job, except for the HR's. HR’s are the shorthand and politically correct way of referring to flights that carry Human Remains home from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.I have met something over 400 of these flights in the last three years. Too sad, especially when they just keep coming and coming with no end in sight.
But I have no need to focus on the HR's.
I get to focus on the living, breathing and vertical young people who must be entirely focused on the HR's. I have the opportunity to help them change their focus just a little: from Devastation to Dignity; from Horror to Honor; from Remains to Respect; from Fatalities to Families.
This death to life message is familiar and comfortable. It is confirmation and completion of my original call to ministry: “Preach the Word ... Do the Work of an Evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4: 2,5
Doing the work of an evangelist is another whole topic but for this: I have never spent so much time with the unchurched, under-churched or formerly churched. I have never built deeper or more honest friendships and I have never seen the hand of God more clearly. I have not once shared the Four (or Five) Spiritual Laws, I have not taken anyone down the Roman Road and I have yet the opportunity to ask “If you died tonight, would you wake up in heaven?” But, amazing as it might seem, I have put multiple young people in touch with a living God, I have prayed for and seen miracles (big and small) in their lives, and I have known the joy of deep spiritual conversation in which the God of the Universe has participated.
Am I doing what I want to be doing? Am I doing what I should be doing?
Emphatically - YES!
posted by David Sparks @ 3:06 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I can appreciate the overwhelming sense of fulfillment that comes with the position that you find yourself in at present. I was talking with one of our dear ladies of the faith here in Maine during our District Assembly last week and she indicated that she is continually praying for you in dealing with the HR's. She was horrified that anyone would need to be in that position (she understood the need, but couldn't fathom how one might survive in the process). In our conversation, I related my experience as a hospital chaplain and needing to deal with the issues of death and dying on a regular basis. I noted that one of the joys of this experience for me is that I can, a). show the unbelieving nursing staff what it can be like to be able to effectively minister to a person who is dying and their family and in that sense put them in touch with the Living God who brings light in the darkened areas of our life, grace for the experience of being forgiven, and hope for the desparate. and b). bring to the family and person who is drawing closer to God, hope and comfort in overwhelming circumstances. I was able to relate to this dear lady of the faith that your ministry there in Dover is absolutely essential for the families of those fallen soldiers who are returning home (as the depersonalized euphemistically statistic now known as the next HR so succinctly puts it) as well as for the staff at the airbase who are responsible for removing those coffins from the planes and have to deal with their own sense of mortality and relationship with God on a daily basis. Dave, my friend, I know that you are where God is needing to have you at this moment. I rejoice with you that you are able to unequivocally affirm His call on your life in this capacity! I am also aware that this affirmation did not occur overnight, but has been a process for you. God's grace continues to mold us and make us after His will - no matter what we are doing! Thank you for sharing your thoughts in this forum. God's Peace be with you.
Post a Comment
<< Home