Temptation #3

When Jesus said, "Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation," He had already watched them succumb to this particular temptation. In the upper room where the final supper was to take place, the disciples were fresh from bickering about who would be the greatest in the new kingdom. They were so focused on their ambitions that they failed to notice the practical things needed to be accomplished at that moment. There was no servant to wash the dust off their feet and prepare them for their meal. They could have been so preoccupied with their interpersonal controversies that they didn't realize something was missing and necessary. Or, they could have all noticed that there was no servant but felt that it was the sign of the most undeserving of advancement to stoop and do the thing that held up the meal. I wish I could know which it was--Jesus knew and He noticed.

During His life, Jesus seemed to move from one task to the next without a lot of discussion about who should do what. The need was present, so He did it: healing the sick, changing water to wine, teaching in the temple. The work ethic He learned working with Joseph in the carpenter shop, served Him well in His work with people and spiritual matters. "Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might." (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

For many years I worked in a teaching hospital. As the new interns came onto the floor in September, the staff used to have conversations about who was "good" and who was not. Some strode about with lordly bearing, uttering great scientific truths about various disease manifestations. There were always nurses who enjoyed debating with them, and equally as many for whom these clear pronouncements seemed to provide a crisp counterpoint for their romantic ambitions.

Other interns were particularly personable and friendly with the nursing staff. They spent adequate time with their patients, but the majority of their time on the units was spent conversing with the nurses. There was often a fair amount of joking and storytelling, many times with risqué comments and sexual innuendo. These relationships helped with staff morale, actually.

Occasionally, interns and residents came through our unit who didn't divide up patient care into your work and our work categories. If a patient told them they were uncomfortable, they didn't call for the nurse. They helped them get comfortable by turning or repositioning the patient themselves. Everything about the patient's wellbeing was important to them--not that they performed every patient care, but the patient's concerns about their family were just as important as deciding medication dosage or starting a vassopressor infusion.

Our chief of staff used to routinely walk through the unit on rounds, picking up little bits of paper and threads on the carpet as he went, never scolding anyone that they were there, but just as part of his duties. As one might guess, he was a meticulous surgeon who noticed cleanliness and order wherever he went. Another physician was concerned about the job satisfaction of the housekeepers and always had a kind word with them on her way through.

The director of the ICU once found himself in a room in which a medical "train wreck" was occurring. Opened cartons of medical instruments and monitoring devices were strewn across the empty bed and floor of the room. Chest tube containers, contaminated gloves and blood-soaked gauze was everywhere. There had been a mad scramble to save this patient's life. After being sure that the medical aspects of the patient's care were addressed, he spoke with each of the nurses to help them debrief. Then he gathered up the trash from all over the room and took it down to the trash chute. Not only did this act give the nurses time and focus they needed, it relieved them of work that would prevent them from keeping up with the rapidly changing status of the dying individual. As the director was leaving the disposal area after dropping off the trash, someone stopped him in the hall to ask where they might find the patient's surgeon. The director gave that information and then the patient's family member asked who he was, since they had seen him back in their loved one's room, working alongside the nurses and residents. He sweetly said, "Today I'm doing lots of things. Right now, I'm the housekeeper."

There are so many things I'd like to accomplish before I die--so many issues to which I'd like to add my voice, programs to design and direct, people to lead, lives to be touched. My hope is that while I am pushing toward my goals, I will not fail to notice the practical, unglamorous, humble things that need to be done. I want to embrace all that falls across my path: glorious and menial, honorable and simple. Because in the final analysis, it's not all the great things that I've accomplished or not, it's the quality of work, and my performance within the scope for which I am responsible that is important. I would like to hear those words from the lips of Jesus: Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of my rest.