Doing the Dirty Work

"To get where you want to go you can't only do what you like." – Peter Abrahams, South African novelist, 1919-2017

From February 1983 through December 1993, I served as the Director of Recreation at a Christian retirement community in New Jersey. Actually, it was a CCRC (continuing care retirement community), which means that there were lots of able-bodied residents in their 60s, 70s, and 80s who were living independently, but there were also scores of people who required assisted living or even skilled nursing care.

My job entailed designing and coordinating recreational activities for all 300 or so residents, which was quite a challenge. For those residents who were living independently, I was able to schedule road trips that lasted from a single afternoon to several days. Some of those in the assisted living areas were able to enjoy a lunch outing or a visit to a local museum, but many of them preferred “in-house” activities such as craft classes, singalongs, or social events… especially if refreshments were being served. And then there were those residents who required around-the-clock care, many of whom were bedridden. Attending a monthly birthday party or simply reading aloud to them was about all they could handle.

As the CCRC grew in both size and number, my department also expanded and soon, I was able to assign different activities to different staff members. For example, the lady who was adept at crafts taught the ceramics and sewing classes, while the woman with the best signing voice led the hymn sing and other musical programs. My assistant took charge of those in the skilled nursing unit, and I was left with the more ambulatory and higher functioning residents. Frankly, I was glad to delegate some of those responsibilities because I either wasn’t equipped for them or – as in the case of doing medical charts – I simply didn’t like doing them.

When I left that job to go into full-time ministry, my least favorite responsibility was to perform annual staff evaluations. I also didn’t like writing grants or updating employee manuals. And so, after performing all these tasks for more than a decade, I trained my assistant to do them proficiently, which allowed me to move onto things that I enjoyed more… and which were better fits for my skill set.

But do you know what? Looking back, I think I may have learned just as much – if not more – by disciplining myself to do the things I detested and to do them well, as unto the Lord.

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17 (ESV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President