Ecclesiastes 3: 2b “…and a time to pluck up what
is planted…”
For First Responders
You put down roots in this Job. For some, twenty five years out,
for others it comes far sooner, due to injury or illness. Some wait for whatever Social Security
mandates as the time to go. The nature
of the Job is ultimately debilitating, by chemicals and toxic substances; by interactions
with people who were devastated, injured, maimed, killed. Are you haunted by the one you couldn’t help?
There is the trouble from ‘your side’, budget,
public perception, and “management”. One
day you are the hero, the next day someone steps up with their boot to your
neck.
You do not ‘quit’ the Job. Because it is not a “job”. When helping others, it is a vocation, and
the closer to the line of death that you help them from, the deeper that
vocation burrows into your heart. And
when you open your heart, you leave yourself vulnerable. It lets you care mightily and it leaves you
to get hurt mightily.
When the time comes, pluck up what you
planted. The Job will always be a part
of you. Enjoy the relief of being off
THAT clock. Grief the loss of this
life-saving work. Decide right now that
you are going to move on. Find the
people to help you make the transition.
Because there is a new place waiting for you to
put down roots once again.
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