Heart Surgery

As a pastor, I spend a lot of time in hospitals. To this point that’s been as a vistor and not as a patient. Of course, I realize that if I don’t die suddenly in some way, the day will come when I will not be the visitor, I will be the visited . . . and with my family history, that could very well be heart trouble.

Let’s say I’m in the hospital and they’ve diagnosed some blockages in my heart arteries. I’ve come in on the weekend and, of course, most of the doctors are off. But, there’s this one heart surgeon they tell me about. They say, “Now you’ll have to wait till the middle of next week for your surgery unless you let Dr. Smith do it.”

I say, “Well, tell me something about Dr. Smith. Why is he here on the weekend?”

“Well, its because he’s not all that busy through the week, and he really likes to do surgery, so he works on the weekend.”

I ask, as of course you’d ask if it were you: “What do you mean, he’s not very busy. Why isn’t he busy?”

The nurse looks a little flustered and she finally answers, “Well, it’s because of Dr. Smith’s background.”

Now, I’m getting nervous. I ask, “What’s wrong with his background? Where did he do his residency?”

“Well,” she answers, really nervous by now, “He didn’t do a residency.”

“He didn’t do a residency! Why not?!” I ask.

“Well,” she says, “He figured that there were so many people dying with heart disease and that they needed so many doctors, he just needed to skip residency and go straight into practice.”

Of course, by now I really afraid. I ask, “Well, why are you trying to get me to let him do my surgery??”

“Well,” she answers, “You really need surgery, and he really needs practice. Besides, he’s been waiting for just the right surgery to come along. He wants something really complicated so he can really hone his operating skill, and he’s willing to give your surgery a try.”

Now, do you think I’d let that guy close to me with a scalpel? Absolutely not!!!

What’s the point of that foolish story? Just this: When you look for someone to work for us or on us, we want someone who has the ability that only comes with experience. If you’re looking for someone to do your surgery, seed your lawn, build your house, or fix your car, those are the people, you might say, you put on “speed dial.” They are the people who have paid the price to gain the experience that leads to superior ability. They are the people who were willing to take the time to learn by doing the little tasks. They are the people who had the patience to wait for their opportunity. They were the ones who didn’t chafe when they were “on hold” you might say waiting for their experience to catch up with their desire.