Késsinnimek - Roots - Racines

AND GOD LAUGHED

by      Louise Dubrule

      One of our chaplains once started his sermon by asking the question “How do you make God laugh?” The answer: “Tell him your plans.” The topic of the homily was the eternal truth that no matter how organized we are, God finds a way to remind us that He is in charge, and we must be humble enough to recognize this. It’s a lesson that I’ve been taught again and again, for I seem to have a short memory when it comes to that fact. Recently I heard an interesting story that seems to prove the chaplain’s point, and I’d like to share it with you.

      George Shala had his life together. He was in the next-to-last semester of drafting classes and he supported himself by laying tile in the evenings and on weekends. Life was on course. And then God laughed. One evening he came out to find that his vehicle had been stolen. Gone were his books, notes, and projects for his classes. Gone were the supplies and tools for his tile business. He had nothing left on which to base his life. He told his teachers what had happened, and that there was no way he could pick up and finish the semester because his projects were gone and there wasn’t time to duplicate everything. George had to quit school, at least for the time being.

      He still had his old motorcycle for transportation and he began to look for other employment. On one of the first days of job hunting, he came across an accident in which another motorcyclist had been hit: the bike and rider were several yards apart. He stopped to check on the guy, reassuring him that help was on the way, and indeed they could hear the ambulance siren in the distance. George stayed on the scene to hold the man’s hand and then he watched as the emergency personnel secured the injured rider on a backboard and bundled him up to take him to the hospital. George thought “I could do that.”

      With that idea planted in his mind, he found a way to enroll in the next EMT training class and discovered that he enjoyed it…and he was good at it. With over 200 other applicants, he took the final exam and placed fifth. Now he was ready to go to work for an ambulance company. He reported for an interview, armed with great test scores and the knowledge that he really knew his stuff. And God laughed. The interviewer focused on the fact that George had a ponytail, albeit a neat one, and George hadn’t worn a suit to the interview. The man harped on the personal appearance factor and refused to talk about anything else until it was obvious that George wouldn’t be hired. He walked out, angry and disappointed. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks and said to himself, “I’ll show him. Instead of being an EMT, I’ll become a nurse.” And he did.

      Today George is a registered nurse working in the pre-op area of the outpatient cardiac unit in a large hospital, and he told me his story last week as he prepared me for an angioplasty. He says that this had been his calling all along and he loves coming in to work every day. Nobody cares that he has a neat pony tail and he didn’t need a suit to prove his worth, for George Shala is where he’s supposed to be. And God smiles.

 

Késsinnimek - Roots - Racines
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Created 1 Feb 2003