大象传媒

Good morning.
It was nine o鈥檆lock on an autumn evening, and I was in our local police station.聽 No, I hadn鈥檛 been arrested, I was just visiting.聽 The back door suddenly opened and one of the officers came in.聽 She鈥檇 been out since nine o鈥檆lock that morning and in all that 12 hour shift hadn鈥檛 had anything to eat.
Not an event to make the front page of our local paper.聽 The crime scene she鈥檇 been at may get a banner headline, but her day without anything to eat will remain unknown.聽 Not least because it probably wasn鈥檛 such an unusual event.聽 Not just in the police service, but in all sorts of jobs.
Every day, lots of people doing ordinary jobs who are putting up with all sorts of minor inconveniences so that the everyday world we all live in can continue on its relatively untroubled way.聽
People who go, not the heroic extra mile, but the ordinary extra yard, and make it easier for us to go on our way, go placidly and easily about our daily business with no one making a fuss or getting excited.
The care assistant in an old people鈥檚 home who goes out into their garden in the rain to bring in flowers to brighten up the lives of the residents.
Our local newsagent who gets up at silly o鈥檆lock every day and sets out in all weathers to deliver the papers to our scattered rural community.
People making small acts of self-sacrifice or putting up with minor inconveniences so that the rest of us can all get on with our daily lives.聽 Not heroes, just incredibly valuable and so easily overlooked.
Father God,
may we spend today with our eyes open to see what other people do for us
and for the good of our society
every day, without making a fuss, and often without our thanks.
May we be more ready to appreciate them,聽聽 and tell them,聽聽 and learn from them.
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