The Raw Vegan: Part XLIX, Psalm 37

November 11, 2008

I had to have something to cling to during those hard stretched-thin days. Felix Mendelssohn had written an oratorio, “Elijah”, back in 1846. That was 140 years before DH had walked out. I had learned “O Rest In the Lord” from my mother’s 52 Sacred Songs You Like to Sing when I was very young. Who knew then it would stand me in good stead when I needed it most? God knew and He had prepared me years before. I would sing it over and over and when I wasn’t singing it, the words were going through my mind.

I found a beautiful rendition on the WWW. It can be downloaded or listened to here. At one time, I found the music in a pdf format but I can’t find it now.

The words are based on Psalm 37. Not surprisingly, it’s my favorite of all the Psalms.

As I went down the mountain to the little rural hospital, many things were going through my head. Rest in the Lord. Wait patiently for Him to act. Commit my way to Him. He had never let me down before. He won’t let me down now. Is this what I’m supposed to be doing?

When I pulled into the parking lot, I remembered I’d turned around there only days before. Why hadn’t I gone in then? I couldn’t go back and do anything over so I put any thoughts of what if? out of my mind.

Walking into the lobby, I presented myself to the window where the person I took to be the receptionist was sitting. The window had a hole too high for me to talk through so I bent down to the larger one below and asked for an application. In seconds, I had the paper in my hand. I sat down in the lobby and used a volume of The Bible Story to put it on so I could fill it out easily. I didn’t have a resume to hand in with my application so I tried to be as detailed as possible about what equipment I could use and my previous job experience. I put down that I could use a computer and had good phone skills. I outlined my duties for Billy B. Beamway’s Flying Machine Shop, a “mom and pop” establishment. My reason for leaving? The business closed. Prior to that, I had been a hairdresser. A long way from hairdresser to promoting hang gliding.

It was years later that I found out how pitiful many applications can be. There should be a course taught in schools that gives students the ability to fill out applications completely, coherently, with correct spelling and acceptable grammar. As for me, I did it as neatly as possible and checked and rechecked everything.

With one more once over, I took it up and handed it through the hole in the window. The nice lady glanced at it and asked me to have a seat. I wasn’t used to that. Usually, the application disappeared never to be seen again and no one ever acknowledged it. In a few minutes she was back and showed me into an office where a pretty, petite lady was sitting behind a desk. She introduced herself as being the business manager of the hospital and proceeded to interview me on the spot.

The job she was interviewing for was that of collector. I’d been sent there for a keypunch position but she said there was no money in the budget for it. That was okay with me. I had never done keypunch before. I hadn’t been concerned I couldn’t but if I didn’t have to learn something new, maybe I could hit the ground running. I wasn’t so sure about having to ask people for money, though.

She cautioned me there was one other person in line for the job and said something about she was the wife of a prominent official in town. There was some mention of politics in connection with it and she said she would have to find out first whether that applicant wanted the job or not.

We discussed hours and days. I told her as a Seventh-day Adventist, I wouldn’t be available to work on Friday evenings or Saturdays but I could work any Sundays she needed me to. She told me that would be no problem if I were hired. After some more back and forth, she dismissed me and I was on my way.

I went to my in-laws and asked them to pray about the possibility of the job. My father-in-law was pleased I might be getting a desk job. He figured a job in an office was more prestigious than one in a factory. I was looking at the money aspect. Jobs in factories paid better than the $4 an hour to start sitting at a desk. That was $4 more than I was making with no job, though.

A few days later, I was in town for something else. I went to a pay phone and called the hospital to inquire. The manager still didn’t have an answer but she should know soon. She had my in-law’s phone number and she’d call me there when she could tell me something for sure.

Back home, all I could do was wait. “O rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him and He shall give thee thy heart’s desire, and He shall give thee thy heart’s desire. Commit thy way unto Him and trust in Him. Commit thy way unto Him and trust in Him. And fret not thyself because of evildoers. Oh rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him.” I’d sing and sing and sing and pray.

One day, the call came and the other person had turned the job down. Collector wasn’t something an official’s wife should be doing. When I hung up, I was walking on air. I had a job! I would be going to work on March 2, 1987. My first day! When DD got home, we’d have some celebrating to do.

There was rejoicing in the house that night and through the days to come. I had no idea what was in store for me. “O rest in the Lord…”

Posted in Raw Food Daze, SAD to Raw