Please, if you are out there, wake me from this nightmare. I want to think that for a second we can make it on our own, but even then, we would be lying to ourselves. But really, do we think that we are doing it correctly? Or, like most, do we believe that the grass is ever greener on the other side.
Take John and Kate for example. Oh, yes, I will admit that I pay only a little bit of attention to their amazing announcement. Well, not so amazing. When a couple lets the media come into their lives like John and Kate did, anything and everything is bound to happen. I remember when I first started watching it that Kate was so good with the kids. She had so much planned out and spent all of her time with them while John worked. Somehow, somewhere down the line, I suppose she let the excitement of it all deter her. I suppose, somewhere down the line, she lost focus of her children and started to focus on herself. I really can not say though, but when I watched the show just about two weeks ago, I saw a different Kate than the one who had just had six kids in one sitting. John, now, is taking over the kids. John, now, is getting caught on camera without his ring. John and Kate, now, are independently John, and independently Kate. John, eight, and then Kate. They are now going to separate. But doing it apart will be no easier than doing it together. Lord, we lift up the children. For the grass most certainly will not be easier on this side of the fence.
I, on the other hand, find myself in the midst of my CPE. And wow, is it brown pastures. Any living water that I could ever bring seems to dry up as I walk into that hospital. I look to be a spokesman for Jesus Christ, but find that often times I have no chance to speak. I run into closed doors, sleeping patients, and an overall mindset that is without need for a chaplain. I try to think what the greener side of the pasture might look like. It may look like feilds of gold ready to be harvested and brought into the kingdom. It may just be that people want to talk, and are not sleeping, closing their doors, or without need.
Maybe, just maybe though, we need to take an alternate view point. In my situation, what if no chaplain was there to visit? I have spoken to several patients. I may or may not have made a difference, but that really isnt the point. The point is that I was there and they took advantage of it. If I hadnt shown up at all, they never would have been able to take advantage of a chaplain at all.
In John and Kate's situation, I may not have an answer. I know that the grass will not be greener for a show to proceed with the parents who started it all split apart. In the Bible it says that when two are yoked, they are stronger than one. That is why a man shall seek out a wife and leave his family. To form a new one. We have a responsibility to work forward to making a better life for one another in our marriages, and in result, raise up our children in the manner of Christ. I know that John and Kate have two books out, each of which can be found in the Christian section of the book store. I will not judge who is saved, but I know that I will be praying for 8 children growing up in the midst of a divorce. Cameras will watch them closely, and they will ever grow up knowing that every move they make is under a microscope. Greener pastures for them is anythign but the ordinary of bringing up 8 kids in the spotlight. Yet, you asked for this spotlight. Just like I signed up to be a chaplain. This is our dark night of December. This is our valley. The green of the pastur is not in the situation, but is far away on the other side.
Look to the greener pasture. Dream and think that things are better on the other side. They very well may be. But there will always be a greener pasture and we will always look to be better off. Yet, we are not called to be in the greener pastures. We are called to get our hands dirty and persevere as Jesus walks with, sometimes carrying, us. We endure this race that we have been called to. The green pasture is at the end of it all. Jesus wrote that story long ago. We, on the other hand, are called to have faith, persevere, and know that our treasure is not found on this side of the fence.
Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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