Wednesday Word: Same Job, Different Job

Football season is upon us. I had my first two games last week and my next two games are scheduled for tomorrow and Friday. It's been good to put on the stripes again and gather with the guys of my other team as we do what we love to do – participate in football games.

For those of you wondering, no, I have not been allowed to work games as an on-field official. Even though the back surgery seems to have gone well, I still need to be careful, so I'm on a strict BLT diet: no Bending, Twisting, or Lifting.

What I have been allowed to do is to serve as the clock operator for games. This means I go up into the press box, plop down in a chair, set the clock for 12 minutes, and keep track of down, distance, yard lines, score, possession, and timeouts. And let me tell you, the first time in the booth running that clock I was absolutely terrified.

I am still a game official, but I have a different job.

Which got me wondering: as we have moved through COVID and all that entails, what are some of the same jobs you have that are different? How we do school is the same but different. How we've done vestry meetings have been the same but different. How we've ministered and worshiped and welcomed and served people have been the same but different.

People like for things to be the same because it's comfortable. I would much rather be on the field than in the booth because being on the field is comfortable. I would much rather be doing all the things associated with church like we've always done them because that's comfortable.

Life, though, is a series of changes where the overall sameness (living) takes on different aspects over time. We are experiencing that now – there's a sameness to things while at the same time being vastly different.

I think it's important to note how we react to all of that. I certainly don't have all the answers on the best way to accomplish it, and I certainly won't say that people who are depressed or angry or annoyed shouldn't feel that way, because we all have felt that way at one time or another. But we can look for the good in the situation and work to make it the best it can be.

Being in the booth isn't ideal, but I'm still busy on Friday nights enjoying a football game and being part of a team. Worshiping with masks, limited singing, and physical distancing isn't ideal, but we still have the pleasure and honor of worshiping God in the beauty of holiness with our team of Saint John's.

We will get through this – all of it. And I believe with every fiber of my being that we will come out stronger in the end.

Blessings,

Todd+