Today I came across a video on my home page that caught my attention. It was a CNN news piece on Grant Achatz, a 33-year-old chef at an avant-garde Chicago restaurant called Alinea. Apparently Mr. Achatz is one of the more notable young chefs in the country. Both he and his restaurant have received a great deal of buzz in recent years based on my Google search. The thing that caught my attention, however, had nothing to do with Mr. Achatz prowess in the kitchen or his restaurant.
Mr. Achatz has been diagnosed with stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth, more specifically, the tongue- that is cancer in layman's terms. Imagine for a moment that you are among the elite, young chefs in the nation and you are given the news that you could possibly lose THE most important sense (taste) as it relates to your chosen vocation. Wow!
Many courses of action were bantered about by the different specialists. Most encouraged Mr. Achatz to consider surgically removing the cancerous tissue to give him the best chance of survival. He chose, however, to treat the cancer with radiation and chemotherapy in hopes of reducing the tumors to the point where less invasive surgical procedures could be considered, thus allowing him to possibly salvage his palette and his beloved vocation.
In the interview, the journalist asked Mr. Achatz if he was more concerned for the loss of his career or his life, he did not hesitate to say, "My career, easily. I never thought I was going to die."
As I watched the video and read some subsequent articles, I found myself trying to come up with a correlation to my own life. What sense could I possibly lose that would have that kind of direct effect on my chosen vocation? As a minister of the Gospel / pastor / preacher / clergyman, I am called to basically do one thing- speak a word from God into the lives of others. That takes a variety of forms. I build relationships with students and my volunteers and the extended church family. I am given opportunities to teach and/or preach. On the radio, I am given a microphone and very limited few moments to love people in Jesus name through the air-waves.
After much thought, I have come to the conclusion that the tongue is also my most important element. Not the sense of taste, but my speech. Sure, I could learn sign language, but my audience would be very limited and interpretation quite cumbersome. The next thought I had was the big question- Faced with the prospects of losing my speech or my life, would I be willing to risk it for the sake of the call on my life? What would your answer be?
Think about it. Let me know what you think.
No comments:
Post a Comment