Saturday, January 25, 2003
Saturday, January 25, 2003
To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of
his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of
our
Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the
Lord Jesus Christ.
In September of 1989, though, Hurricane Hugo hit Charleston. Electricity went out all over
town.
Roper Hospital was reduced to a system of backup generators, and for some reason the diesel
pump for the generators was not pumping the needed fuel to them. That threatened to leave a
large hospital and its intensive care unit (The unit where patients are on life-support systems)
with no electricity. It was in the midst of that crisis that Dan Dyer made 5 trips out into a
hurricane to hand-pump diesel fuel back to the small tank that fueled the generator. Every trip
through the high-velocity winds, water, and crashing debris was a risk of his life to safeguard
the
lives of the patients in the hospital. After that night, nurses, the hospital administrator, and
even
the governor of the state knew who Dan was. Dan Dyer became a bit of a celebrity and was
recognized from that point on as the man who keeps Roper Hospital running.
It's ironic, isn't it? For 8 years Dan Dyer faithfully performed functions vital to a large hospital,
but until a crisis occurred, the other hospital personnel didn't have a clue as to who he was.
Some of you know how it feels.
Fulfill your call with or without the recognition. God will honor you.
(2 Thessalonians 1.11-12
NRSV)
There was an interesting article in LIFE magazine sometime back. It was about Dan Dyer, a
maintenance man for Roper Hospital in Charleston, SC. Until 1989 Dan had been responsible
for the hospital heating and air conditioning for 8 years--and yet the hospital staff was oblivious
to
Dan's existence. Dan was usually out of sight in the boiler room or some such place, and his
contribution to the healing of sick and hurting people just wasn't all that obvious.
Dear God, may I never lose my focus on fulfilling your will for my life. Amen.
