It's not just the blue ribbons, but what they stand for, what I stand for, and what I feel and think about it all. It's a bumbled up mix of emotions, that's for sure! These are the ribbons that the nurses at my hospital have been wearing as a show of unity and solidarity during a very tense month of contract negotiations between the hospital administration and the union that represents us. Things aren't going great as we just learned that if another strike occurs (which is a very real possibility) the hospital will lock us out for an additional 2 days, for a total of 5 days missed of work. (I'm scheduled to work 3 12-hour shifts in that 5 day period....)
(sigh)
I'm not thrilled at the prospect of losing an entire week's worth of wages, but I can honestly say that the money isn't what's bothering me.
It's conflict!!!
I hate it! It unsettles me. It twists its gnarled fingers around my happy heart and keeps me up at night. It's what makes me write controversial papers for my class and spout off wild rantings of how "there HAS to be a better way!!"
It's the thing that has caused me to turn to the only place I know to find peace and comfort and answers in a time where the atmosphere if full of bitterness, resentment, accusations, and discord. The Scriptures. What does God say about all this??? Not surprisingly I found no mention of strikes in the Bible.....
I'm not surprised that conflict exists. We live in a fallen world, and our God is a war-faring God, so therefore we must be a war-faring people! God has a lot to say about the just and the unjust, and here's what I think. If I look around at the world and see an unjustice, especially one that personally affects me, the welfare of my work, my livlihood, and thus my family, and I do nothing, what am I really saying??
As a child, I was raised in a very pacifistic, "non-resistant" way. My parents are/were peaceful, my father a conscientious objector to the Vietnam war. It's where I got my "can't we all just get along?" mentality, I guess. Unions in the midwest were seen as a self-seeking form of rebellion to the powers that be and therefore generally NOT looked upon with favor. You don't stir the pot, cause a ruckus, make waves, or tred into waters unknown.
BUT.
I have never before lived in a place where I felt that my employers were unjust and wanted to take things from me and fill their own pockets while simultaneously telling me that they "value" me. I've never felt threatened or cheapened. And until now, I've never thought that my one small voice would be one that could make a very big difference in light of a grave unjustice, but I'm finding that it does....
"He that ruleth men must be just." II Samuel 23:3
But the "rulers" of my hospital are not just! Lord, what do I do?
"The just man walketh in his integrity." Proverbs 20:7
OK, Lord, I will walk in integrity! But what will happen now?
"No evil shall happen to the just." Proverbs 12:21
"Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." Matthew 6: 31-32
Thank you, Lord..... Show me the way!!!
"The way of the just is uprightness." Isaiah 26:7 and
"The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:17
What awesome promises God fills our hearts with!!
Please join me in praying for my hospital, the administrators, the union representatives, my community, my coworkers, and my patients. I ask for a speedy resolution that honors the employees without compromising the establishment they serve nor the safety of the patients within.
No comments:
Post a Comment