Editor’s note: In April, the chaplains invite and encourage the Loma Linda University Health community to pray and fast together each Tuesday, asking for God’s guidance and wisdom as we continue to build and grow.
***
“Next to him the men of Jericho built. ... After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, carried out repairs.” Nehemiah 3:2, 31
One cannot help but stop and marvel at the feats of construction that are occurring on both the southwest and northwest corners of Barton Road and Anderson Street in preparation for the new adult and expanded children’s hospital towers at Loma Linda University Health.
As one continues to travel a little further west, he or she would then observe the parking structure on the corner of Barton Road and Campus Street receiving its finishing touches. Additionally, there is activity on the southwest corner of Prospect Avenue and Anderson Street where trenches are being dug and waterlines improved prior to new landscaping being placed.
The elements indispensable to all these undertakings are the men and women who work “next to” each other and “after” one another to complete the tasks at hand. In Nehemiah Chapter 3, these two phrases, “next to” and “after,” are used repeatedly to describe the way those who responded to the call to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem labored together.
While it is true that, in the diverse areas where we serve within Loma Linda University Health, we may not be observed as easily by bystanders or passersby, it is clear to me that embedded in our ethos is a commitment to work together. This culture is reflected across the enterprise in our hospitals, clinics, classrooms, international and local service experiences, cafeterias, landscaping, security … the list goes on and on. We, side by side, work to fulfill the mission of Loma Linda University Health “To make man whole.”
It can be challenging to work under public scrutiny where people are always watching over your shoulder. It can be frustrating when there are naysayers, pessimists or the opinionated who seem to always have something to say about what you are doing. There is a challenge when you put forth your best efforts and still find yourself functioning in crisis mode or putting out one fire after another. Yet I would say to you “Be encouraged.” There is someone working next to you and another who will come after to complete the task at hand.
We will only fail to meet our goals if we forget that each of us is not being asked to build a wall alone. Nehemiah and the rebuilders were committed to one goal, reconstructing the wall. They worked under adverse conditions under the scrutiny and discouragement of those who opposed the project. Yet, they kept working next to and after each other. Perhaps they were able to do this because they remembered that it was God who had placed them there and it was God who would cover, protect and give them good success.
Look to the person next to you and think about those who will come after you. We stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us; let’s keep building together.
Dilys Brooks, MDiv
Associate campus chaplain
Loma Linda University