Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2023 Blog #36
September 11, 2023
They don’t know enough to come out of the rain
Usually on this somber day of September 11 I pay tribute in my blog to the victims, mourners, and first responders who endured that horrible attack. This year I am deviating from that and am talking about a more current emergency situation that I witnessed just a few days ago.
On Friday my life experienced a minor annoyance. I had a medical appointment a few towns north of my town and walked into the doctor’s office in beautiful sunshine. Less than an hour later, I left the office to torrents of rain along with thunder and lightning. I knew that my trip back home would take longer than usual. I didn’t realize that I would be even more delayed.
As I entered back into town, the traffic worsened and became even thicker than could be explained by the weather. As I sat in traffic I began to hear the sirens of emergency vehicles. As I inched forward I realized that the main road in town was closed and the traffic was getting detoured. In the distance I saw sparks shooting from an electric power pole. Clearly we had a real emergency with police and fire officials standing out in the rain, the thunder, and the lightning.
I remembered lightning storms when I was a child. My mother was deathly afraid of electrical storms. Whenever we had such a storm she unplugged the TV, would not allow us to touch any of the sink faucets and she forced us to keep away from the windows.
Now, sitting in traffic, I was watching first responders who were willingly standing out in the rain during a storm that would have caused my mother to fear. I knew that soon workers from Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) would be working on those wires. Rather than knowing to come in out of the rain, these men and women went out in the rain to keep the town safe from harm and to keep services running. These people are true heroes. They go to places we would never go to and take risks that most of us avoid.
Yes, after a short time of inconvenience I got through the detour and was soon back in the safety of the parsonage. I heard the thunder and watched the lightning in comfort. Facebook featured a notice from our police department that warned of the road closure because of a “utility emergency.” As I sat, my thoughts went out to those who were outside serving those of us who were inside. I said a prayer for their safety and admired their courage and heroism. These are people, who when summoned, don’t get to come in out of the rain.
Let us not forget those who served us on September 11, but may we never forget to show gratitude to those who still serve us as well.
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