Dedication and Commitment

In the Twin Cities where I live we just experienced a Polar vortex. Temperatures reached dangerous lows of thirty (plus) degrees below zero. The more rural areas were even colder. With windchill factors taken into consideration, the outside temperatures felt like -50 to -60! I took my father to the airport on one of the coldest mornings; the temperature gage in his vehicle read -33! Brrrrrr. I was grateful to be in a warm vehicle and he was grateful to be traveling somewhere warmer, although, one doesn’t have to go far to be warmer than this!

The coldest temperature was recorded early Thursday in Cotton, Minnesota. It was -56 degrees, just shy of the state's all-time record low of -60 degrees set in Tower on Feb. 2, 1996. Double Brrrrrr!! The crisp and dark pre-sunrise skies kept my mind off the cold with a spectacular line-up of the moon, Venus and Jupiter shining bright in the eastern sky, wowing the stargazing lover in me. It was reminiscent of my sunny, frigid and blustery drive into the flat prairie lands a few weeks ago when I got to see the magnificent phenomena of sundogs stretched across the horizon.

This blog is supposed to be about dedication and commitment, not the weather, however it certainly plays a part in challenging these things, especially during the extreme cold. A picture of a firefighter from Cameron, Wisconsin went viral on January 31st. Fire Chief Mitch Hansen’s appearance is more like that of a human icicle or something children build from snow in their yards. As Chief Hansen battled a blazing home, spray from the hoses pelted him and the other firefighters. During my own house fire three years ago, I witnessed just how powerful the force of water can be. One of the hoses coming directly from a fire truck got inadvertently wrapped around a five foot tall community mailbox held in place by a large slab of cement. When the water was turned on, the immense pressure immediately toppled the entire unit, crashing it to ground with a thundering crash. Imagine having water smacking your face and body with that kind of force while standing in sub zero temperatures with a -50 windchill? Now that is dedication! Sadly, despite the efforts, the house was a complete loss.

“Public service must be more than doing a job efficiently and honestly. It must be a complete dedication to the people and to the nation”. - Margaret Chase Smith

Fort Snelling National Cemetery, located near the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, is the fourth-busiest national cemetery in the nation. In 40 years of service, the all volunteer rifle squad and color guard have never missed a funeral. On this remarkably cold day in Minnesota, they paid their respects at seven military services. There are normally more, but many families chose to reschedule for a warmer day. Mail delivery for the entire state was halted and all schools were closed. The windchill was -36.

John Knapp, deputy Director of Ft. Snelling made a profound statement when asked about the volunteers braving the cold, “Our staff is 100% dedicated to make sure we do our mission. They did not know the veteran whose funeral they were serving, but they still considered him a brother. They believe it’s their duty to warm the hearts of loved ones, even when mother nature had other ideas. These men deserve to be honored, they served our country. It’s important to understand that when veterans chose to serve their country, they didn’t have a choice about the weather or the location. Even in -20 to -30 degrees, life and death go on in the cold. We are doing our duty to help them transition into another world.”

“Commitment is an act, not a word”. - Jean-Paul Sartre

At one of the churches I attend (I frequent more than one), the guest speaker for Sunday’s sermon works as a physician in (very) rural central Minnesota. He is a practicing Muslim. In 2013 he felt called to the tiny town of 1400 to address the shortage of doctors in rural America. He gave up a comfortable east coast job to honor the desire of his servants heart to care for the needs of others. Initially welcomed and later misunderstood and judged, he was ready to leave until a local pastor invited him to speak to her church and address the misconceptions. Over the last two years, these talks have led to a regular lecture series that has taken place twenty five times to date. He remains in practice here and feels a renewed sense of faith and conviction in what he has been called to do.

“We should never desire to be over others. Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive to every human being for God's sake”. -St. Francis of Assisi

Weather isn’t the only element that can test our dedication and commitment, uncertainty and fear can as well. In the end, our love for one another and a wanting to serve others for the greater good is what each of these stories has in common. In the last week I have been witness to dedication and commitment at their finest - because, to honor knows no bounds.

God bless the firemen, all of our first responders and anyone else whose job does not halt, ever, especially when they chose to be the brave, the fearless and the bold, under any circumstance.