Being average is OK too...

The storm water drain in the church car park had not been coping with the rainfall and had got worse. So last Saturday morning I threw a couple of shovels, my gumboots and some buckets in the car and came in to clean out the drain. It was flooded again so I had to puddle in water to lift the grate and dig out the muck. It was smelly, dirty and wet work. Then it started raining again so I got grumpy. "I bet you the dean at the cathedral down the road does not clean out the drains!" I growled to myself. He would inform his secretary to make the necessary arrangements with a plumbing firm, who would charge heaps. "I don't even have a secretary, paid or voluntary!" I complained to myself! You see, we at the Church of Christ cannot throw money around if we can help it.

I had been reading the newspapers that morning. Peter Entwistle was the same year as me at secondary school (A higher academic stream though) and he is now well known and writes an art column in the paper. Michael Guest writes a legal column, is a city counsellor and was at Otago Boys at the same time I was a pupil there. Another article mentioned cricketing great Glen Turner. We once shared a science class in the fifth form. I know of other school contemporaries who have "made it", they run businesses and/or have "fame". One time national TV personality Ian Fraser was the same year as me. Bill Wright is a partner in a law firm locally, probably gave me a detention at school when he was deputy head prefect and Regimental Sargent Major for School Cadets. Last Saturday morning as I stood in the rain, smelling like a sewer, feeling sorry for myself I thought, "How come these guys have 'made it', and I am cleaning a drain as a minister of a struggling church in a virtually unknown denomination?"

The Desiderata warns against comparing yourself with others. It says; If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

I need to remember that and be thankful for who I am. Some of these guys have "made it" because they are more intelligent than I. I recall being part of the NZ Inter-Church Council on Public Affairs. It is now defunct but we met in Wellington and discussed all sorts of public issues. (Like many church committees, we did a lot of discussing, but very little action.) It was made up of representatives from a great variety of denominations and there were some bright cookies on it, very articulate, knowledgeable and discerning. I remember sitting there in awe of them. Someone would make a well thought out comment. I would be following it and assimilating it into my world view, and another would reply with a clearly spoken, logical, well reasoned reply. I would sit there thinking... "How do their brains work so fast? I am still mulling over what has been said, yet this person has heard it, mulled it over, analysed it and formulated an articulate response!!!?" I know that there are heaps of people more intelligent than I. Some have made it because they have certain talents I have not got. I could practice till I am blue in the face, and I could never be co-ordinated enough to hit a ball like Glen Turner. I would LOVE to be as musical as Ian Fraser was. But simply, they were not the cards I was dealt. Some have "made it" because they have different values than I. I could never have been a top sportsman. It is "just a game" to me and I can't get that committed to a game. I have never been wrapped up in making money, or acquiring the latest and greatest car etc. Even if I won Lotto, I suspect I would drive my old 1990 Nissan Bluebird and rusting Toyota van. I have different values.

But I am me! I do have a few abilities and even though they are "average" I am not called to be rich and famous, I am called to use what I do have for the good of people. Ultimately when I am old and near death I want to be able to say, "Well I took the cards I was dealt with and did the best I could with them". It may not have been a great hand, but it was OK too. In a Muppet show Kermit the frog sings a song called, "It's not easy being green." In the first part of the song he is like me on Saturday morning... he bemoans all the disadvantages of being green. Then he begins to realise that "green" is OK too. The final words are, "I'm glad I'm me!" I took the drain "muck" and rubbish to the tip on Saturday. After lunch I prepared a church service and a wedding service. Then I showered and washed the sewer smell away and went to Wobbly's restaurant and conducted a wedding ceremony that was "just right" for the couple I was marrying. It was good and I felt pleased to do it because I knew I could do it well and help them and others have a special day. I am also glad that I can physically handle cleaning a drain and confidently tackle such a job. It may not move mountains but its me, average me, and that's OK! Being average is OK too!