PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

October 15, 2023

TODAY

Wednesday, October 4, I had a cardioversion at the St. Joseph Hospital in Plymouth, Indiana.  I arrived at the surgery center promptly at 7:30 A.M.  All the preparations were completed a little after 8:00 A.M.  I was in the surgery suite at 8:30 A.M.  All the necessary preparations had been made.  All was ready.

When the nurse in charge called the doctor to tell him all was ready, she learned that he was stuck in construction traffic and would not be there for some time.  Since the surgery suite was scheduled for all procedures, I could not remain there until he came.  Many of the support team also had other assignments and could not wait.  The only option was to move me back to my room.

When they learned an approximate time for the doctor’s arrival, it was decided to do the procedure in the postop facility.  They would also do the other cardioversion that the doctor had scheduled there.  A little after 9:30 A.M. I was moved to the new location.  The doctor arrived about 9:45 A.M. and the procedure was completed.  As the new nurse in charge was taking my vitals, she said, “Today, all I can do is my best.”  She took the time to explain in detail the results of the EKG she was taking and when we got back to the room, she explained them to my wife.

My visit to St. Joseph hospital on the 4^th was somewhat chaotic.  I had three different care teams.  The first one I only saw briefly.  All the time they remained professional as well as personal.  Not easy to do under the best of circumstances. I marveled how they could remain so calm.  I do not like it when my routine is interrupted.  I suspect that one of the reasons for this can be found in the nurse’s statement: “Today, all I can do is my best.”

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.  Today’s trouble is enough for today. … And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? (Matthew 6:34, 27).” When Jesus is visiting with Mary and Martha, He tells Martha when she complains that Mary is not helping with the meal: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.  Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her (Luke 10:41b-42).”

In these scriptures Jesus suggests that we need to keep our focus on today and, also, not be preoccupied with things that, in the end, don’t matter that much.  The nurse who was monitoring my vitals in preop put it this way, “Today, all I can do is my best.”  She did not let all of the possible distractions that were close at hand prevent her from doing what was important now.

In the October 1974 issues of the United Methodist Today Robert A. Strawn shares a story told by Robert Quillen about a naturalist who was cutting logs to build a log cabin.  A friend of the naturalist asked him, “Isn’t that a big undertaking for a man of your years?” He replied, “It would be if I thought of chopping the trees, sawing the logs, skinning the bark, laying the foundation, erecting the walls, and putting on the roof.  Carrying the load all at once would exhaust me.  But it isn’t so hard to cut down this one tree, and that’s all I have to do today.”  Or as my nurse put it, “Today, all I have to do is my best.”