From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin
I saw a terrific Facebook meme back in late July in the early days of the Paris Summer Olympics.
It showed a scene from the pool and the caption read, “If you feel useless today, remember somebody is working as a lifeguard at the Olympics.”
I got quite the chuckle from that statement, but it also got me thinking about how we often rate the degree of difficulty of various tasks, especially when we make comparisons with the ones that we are engaged in.
Back in my early 20’s I used to think a primary school teacher had a pretty cushy job doing glorified babysitting for a class of kids.
That was until I had to run a children’s church program one Sunday in my previous church and was absolutely hogtied by six toddlers.
I didn’t even last the required 40 minutes before having to send for help from a couple of the moms in the congregation.
It was a disaster, but at least I gained a deeper appreciation for those who work in childcare or teach elementary-aged children day in and day out.
I have had many people over the years remark after hearing one of my sermons that they could easily do the same.
Well, maybe, or maybe not.
Sometimes the roles that we think are mundane and meaningless turn out to be very important.
Just ask any flight attendant going through the safety protocols.
They aren’t used very often, but when they are, it saves lives.
Let’s give God thanks for the jobs we have and the roles we play, and then let’s go out there and give it our best effort, regardless of what people may say or think.
