The present week has been a jumble of events. I work casual part time for the hospital that employed me for 30 years. Yesterday, our nurses staged a one day strike. I helped with handoffs between our nurses and the replacement nurses, and then did documentation support for the replacements. I had a little trepidation about how things would go when our nurses returned. Would they be angry? The news media had showcased examples of militant nurses on the picket lines.
I needn't have worried. The replacement nurses went down the back elevator and the hospital's own nurses came up the front. I got tears in my eyes when I saw them and was moved to greet them warmly. "We're glad to see you too," they called. There will be hard days ahead for all of us, but in the end we're a team of professionals working in a respect-based culture. I pray that we can listen to and hear each other over the coming weeks. In years past, I was a member of the management negotiating team. I'm glad I'm on the sidelines now, helping where I can.
A book I've been reading suggests that I would be in a better position to negotiate now than in years past--that wisdom idea again. I think I've mentioned that A Course In Miracles has influenced my thinking, though I don't consider myself a formal student of the course. Several well known authors have been influenced by the course also. One of them is Marianne Williamson, and I've been reading her book The Age of Miracles. I particularly relate to the prayers she has scattered through the pages, one of which reads in part:...Show me how to use my gifts well, and how to pass them on. (p82)
