Rookies... That's me. I've never blogged before, but I'm finally jumping on the bandwagon. Having enjoyed many blogs, I shall now attempt what I thought previously not to.
"Cubby." That is what they call troopers fresh out of the academy. "Hey cub" was heard repeatedly as I endeavored to complete the 17 week FTO (field training officer) program. The term became as unwelcome as the attitudes through which it was slung at me. Looking back on the term later, however, brings back fond memories of training officers and laughable experiences that happen to rookies or cubbies in their first weeks and months on the job.
I had another rookie experience within this last week: speaking, in a ministry context, to many inmates at the local county jail. I invited myself to go along with a friend, who arranged for me to share my testimony with the inmates. We both spoke with them and quite enjoyed sharing the good news with people hungry for something (though admittedly many not sure what it is that they are hungry for). This experience was very enjoyable to me.
As providence would have it, an unknown man led the small jail group in John Newton's famous hymm, Amazing Grace. I later shared with the group Newton's famous statement: The men of this world are children, offer a child an apple or a banknote and he will doubtless chose the apple.
This statement has become one of my favorite quotes, and I endeavored to unpack it's meaning for the group. The gist is that we all to often succumb to the temptation to try to satisfy ourselves with finite, temporary, and ultimately unsatisfying things when the Infinite and all-satisfying treasure is passed over. Like the child in Newton's statement settles for the apple because he does not understand the value of the banknote, so also we much too often settle for the broken cisterns (Jer. 2) and mud puddles of this world because we can not or do not comprehend the priceless value of the Infinitely Holy, Eternally Glorious, and All-Satisfying God.
"Cubby." That is what they call troopers fresh out of the academy. "Hey cub" was heard repeatedly as I endeavored to complete the 17 week FTO (field training officer) program. The term became as unwelcome as the attitudes through which it was slung at me. Looking back on the term later, however, brings back fond memories of training officers and laughable experiences that happen to rookies or cubbies in their first weeks and months on the job.
I had another rookie experience within this last week: speaking, in a ministry context, to many inmates at the local county jail. I invited myself to go along with a friend, who arranged for me to share my testimony with the inmates. We both spoke with them and quite enjoyed sharing the good news with people hungry for something (though admittedly many not sure what it is that they are hungry for). This experience was very enjoyable to me.
As providence would have it, an unknown man led the small jail group in John Newton's famous hymm, Amazing Grace. I later shared with the group Newton's famous statement: The men of this world are children, offer a child an apple or a banknote and he will doubtless chose the apple.
This statement has become one of my favorite quotes, and I endeavored to unpack it's meaning for the group. The gist is that we all to often succumb to the temptation to try to satisfy ourselves with finite, temporary, and ultimately unsatisfying things when the Infinite and all-satisfying treasure is passed over. Like the child in Newton's statement settles for the apple because he does not understand the value of the banknote, so also we much too often settle for the broken cisterns (Jer. 2) and mud puddles of this world because we can not or do not comprehend the priceless value of the Infinitely Holy, Eternally Glorious, and All-Satisfying God.
6 comments:
Welcome to the blogosphere brother, look forward to reading some of your post.
I echo Tim's sentiments. Welcome to the digital conversation.
How did the inmates respond to the fact that you are a state trooper? :-)
The inmates responded surprisingly well to the news of my employment. I debated with myself if I should tell them and finally decided to in the hopes that I might somehow encourage them to listen a little closer. At the end the inmates approached us to shake our hands and thank us for coming.
That's pretty awesome!
Love it Ben; you're a cool cat.
Mom
Hey! Fancy meeting you here!
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