I recently read a
blog post entitled, “Your Vocation is Not About You” by Benjamin Mann. This was an excellent article about how one’s
vocation, whether it be marriage, a career, or even the consecrated life, will
not serve the purpose of solving our problems, filling our innermost desires,
or providing everlasting happiness. A
vocation instead should serve the purpose of allowing us to empty ourselves in
order to let Christ into our lives.
This
article stirred up lots of thoughts and emotions for me. This may be because I have recently changed
careers. About five years ago I decided
to leave my job in finance to pursue a career as a nurse. This is about as dramatic of a career change
as one can make. I took a 180 degree
turn from crunching numbers behind a cubicle to helping sick patients back to
health in the ICU.
Nursing
can be such a fulfilling career but at the same time it can be extremely
humbling. Nursing is often rated one of
the most respected careers and at the same time the profession is often
belittled by television shows such as Grey’s Anatomy. Mainstream entertainment sources often depict
nurses as under educated women who just assist doctors. This could not be farther from the
truth. Nurses are often very well
educated and a lot of times are not women (myself included). Nurses work long hours, often working
weekend, night, and holiday shifts. We
are exposed to other people’s bodily fluids and in some cases, as recently made
public in the media, are exposed to deadly viruses such as Ebola. We see life and death and how thin the line
between the two often is.
One
of the toughest things for me as nurse has been dealing with the family members
of patients. As you can imagine having a
loved one in the hospital can be stressful and scary. Sometimes people manifest their stress on the
nurses. On one particular occasional I
remember after having worked hard all day to care for a patient in the ICU I
had a family member criticize everything I did.
This was so hard for me because as a nurse your job is to comfort the
family as well. As much as I felt like
shouting back all I could do is listen and try to explain things a little
better. This was not easy but at
the same time it was humbling.
Maybe this is what
is meant by emptying yourself. I know
that I did everything right for this patient.
I know I worked as hard as I could to care for this patient and in the
end I was not thanked but criticized.
Jesus experienced the same thing to a much greater degree in his
life. Maybe this is what is meant by
carrying our own crosses.
On
the other end of the spectrum nursing can be such a fulfilling job. I’ve seen people survive horrific accidents
and make incredible recoveries. I’ve
seen new life come into this world.
Parents have expressed how thankful they were to me in caring for their
child who was sick. In these moments
it’s hard not to see God’s goodness.
Even the most adamant atheist would have a hard time not acknowledging a
greater power in these moments.
I
am so blessed to be able to have such a great vocation. A vocation that allows me to grow closer to
God if I let it. What is your
vocation? Does it allow you to take up
your own crosses? If so then be thankful
and if not then remember it’s never too late to discern your own vocation.
