Who Are You Listening To?

               Prayer is when you talk to God;meditation is when you listen to God. ~ Diana Robinson

I was a new nurse 10 years ago in a correctional setting. I had noticed how easier the job was compared to what I did at the hospital. No more lifting patients. No more putting extremities back on CPM’s [Complete Passive Movement Machine] after the patients’ total knee replacements. No more turning of post-op patients side to side at least every 2 hours to prevent skin breakdown. Not that I hated those as an Orthopedic nurse. But because I couldn’t do it anymore after sustaining a neck injury in 1997, after lifting a patient who just had a back surgery. Despite me being aware of using good body mechanics, my neck was injured.

“Don’t work with Nurse P.,” warned one of the new co-workers. “He’s grumpy and just hard to work with,” she added in a whisper.

That was what stood out after being oriented in a few weeks. The job was not hard. It was the people. People who loved to back stab others and in their presence, lauded them with praises. People who loved to see someone messed up and was so sure to talk about it when it occurred. People who always checked for what kind of phones co-workers were using. Brand names of purses. Expensive watches. The kind of cars they drove. The kind of life they lived outside. Interested to know if a co-worker was divorced. That they were having problems with not only with their mates but with kids if they had kids. Those were the obvious things I saw, heard, sensed and experienced.

“Thanks for your warning,” I replied. “But I prefer to form my own opinion of people. I would rather meet them and be able to work with them.”

So I did. With Nurse P. And he was a great co-worker. We worked harmoniously. We were a great team when we had man downs. We finished early with our morning sick calls because we split the work. There was no whining. Whoever was available and could, one of us would just do the work. And we earned more than what we were making, pay period to pay period. We earned respect. Toward each other. Nurse P. had been retired. And I was glad that I never listened to that damaging warning.

How about you? Who are you listening to? Are you listening to this world’s point of views? Or are you listening to God?

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”
~ John 10:27-28[NIV]