Sometimes You Have to Create Opportunities

This past summer was the second I spent working in a factory, Classic Products. On my last day I vowed not to work in a factory again. The work there was terribly monotonous and menial; I mean, when you eagerly anticipate the next chance to jump up on a forklift and take a spin - even if it's just to put away a skid of boxes - you know something's not right. Despite my strong distaste for the work, there are things I will always value from that experience, and I realize if I hadn't spent two summers in the factory I would be deprived of those experiences and life lessons all together. In other words, I wouldn't trade those months for anything. The guys I worked with - no matter how rough, backwards, ultra-conservative, bedraggled and unadulteratedly weird - came to be like family to me. They became my friends. We laughed together, argued with one another, complained about "the man" and "those spoiled office workers" together, suffered in uncomfortable work conditions together, and of course made hundreds of thousands of square feet of metal roofs together.

I have lots of stories I could share, but this past week has specifically reminded me of one, or rather of a bit of wisdom I gleaned from the most unusual source. One of the plant mechanic's name was...well...we called him "Chock". That was his nick name I assume. When I picture ol' Chock I see that balled head of his perched atop his stout shoulders and unreasonably large, round belly. The man stood stood about five feet and five inches off the ground and weighed close to 300 pounds I would guess, and his commanding personality and I'll-take-no-s**t-from-anyone attitude definitely derived its authority from his weight and not his height. This dude was rough. And you didn't want to push his buttons. And let's just say he wasn't the most beloved worker in the plant. But for some reason good ol' Chock seemed to take a liking to me.

Chock would occasionally ride around on this electronic cart because he had bad knees (we gave him crap for this because everyone else had to walk to wherever they were going in the plant...even the other grandfathers who worked there). One day I saw Chock's bald head come bobbing my way as he rode that little cart. He stopped and we had a somehow related conversation about what I wanted to do with my life and about a time some angel visited Chock while he was sick (I don't know if I was more surprised that Chock believed in angels or that an angel actually came to stand at that man's bedside). You'd be surprised at the weird, twistedly strange and unbelievable stories I heard in this place.

Anyway, I told Chock I didn't think I'd be able to find the kind of job I wanted around the Sidney area and that I might have to move away to find it. Chock looked at me and said, "Lemme give ya a little piece of advice I learned over the past 35 years of being a mechanic: sometimes you have to create opportunities. You have to make things happen." I took his advice (as I did with ANY piece of advice I received in that facility) with a large grain of salt.

This past week I've struggled with feeling unfulfilled at my job at the church. I don't think I've been used to my full potential or that I've accomplished a lot since I've been there. This is because I've been somewhat passive in my role in the congregation because I don't want to come across as "the new, young, non-Mennonite pastoral intern who's trying to impose his will on us."Just for clarification, I was assured that my being young and non-Mennonite was not an issue. But in the midst of this struggle I remembered Chock's words: sometimes you have to create opportunities. That's exactly what I need to do. I need to stop waiting for opportunities to come to me. I need to take initiative, do new things, let go of my fear of disappointing people and start taking advantage of the position in which I find myself.

I would never have guessed that I would one day blog about something Chock said. Most things that came out of his mouth would burn the ears off of those who heard them and probably leave smoke wafting from the eye sockets of anyone who read them. But alas, this is what I love about my experience in the factory: amidst so much stuff that is unwholesome and unlovable, it's still possible to find goodness and truth. I will be forever challenged and encouraged to create opportunities in my life thanks to wisdom from the least-expected and most dubious source: good ol' Chock.