Let me vent a frustration I had with myself, but first I'll lay a little context down. Yesterday, I responded to a car crash--no big deal, just like usual. We arrived on-scene to find one vehicle involved with two patients. Because the car was crunched pretty good, we had to extricate the driver, using our spreaders (aka jaws), and pry the passenger side door open with a haligan. The patient on the passenger side was found with obvious leg breaks and signs of internal injury--based on the mechanism involved. The passenger was pronounced DOA on-scene. I was in-charge of the extrication equipment and proceeded to do the job I was assigned.
I was frustrated because I didn't feel anything for the deceased and very little for the partner of the deceased. Having been called into ministry in the emergency services, I was not okay with my reaction. All day I thought about why I couldn't feel anything for these people. I realized that I had kept my heart and emotions protected so much that I was stifling any attempt at empathy; I guess I have become hardened to the scenes we go on and it's taken the "Jesus touch" out of the chaotic and sometimes dangerous situations we can find ourselves in. I'd like to make a pact today. My pact is that both you and I ponder some of the scenes we witness and release them in a creative or expressive way. We should have the ability to do our jobs effectively, hold our emotions at bay, but feel the same sense of loss and pain as the people we serve. Let's bring Jesus on-scene.
