The Importance of Thankless Jobs
I learned something very interesting during the presentation by the Park Ranger at the Memorial Day Service in Valley Forge Park.
She told of the deprivation of the soldiers in food and drink during the winter encampment at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War. The Continental Army was literally dying of dehydration and starvation. Soldiers would go around the camp screeching like crows, "No Meat" as kind of a macabre joke and cry. Then, the statements got even more dire, "No bread, no soldier." Mass desertion, what the English were counting on as they were comfortably camped in Philadelphia, became more and more a real risk.
The British were counterfeiting the American currency, the Continental, which was not backed by silver or gold. So, an already fledgling monetary system was further damaged by British currency sabotage. The Continental became so devalued, that providers of goods and services would not always accept it as payment. There was a derisive insult back in those days where a person would say, "Not worth a Continental." Further, the states were still issuing their own currency which further caused chaos. Because of this, the Continental Army often would not be able to buy needed supplies.
Into this mess of money and materials, George Washington appointed a man by the name of Major General Nathanael Green to be the Quartermaster General, a position supervising the procurement of supplies. As an accomplished and battle-worthy commander Greene greatly resented and resisted the appointment. A a field officer, he wanted to fight. Only Washington's personal appeal and Greene's personal integrity eventually persuaded him to fight the supply battle that was the basis for the very success or defeat on the battlefield.
The Quartermaster General position was "unremitting, annoying, and thankless labor." The Continental Congress even wanted to stiff him with some of the bills. Greene held on as long as he could in the position until it became untenable. Yet, he had served in a time of desperate need and made a huge difference in turning the tide of the Revolutionary War. How many of us even know his name?
I heard a preacher on the radio recently state, "Everyone wants the glory but no one wants to hear the story." Even with the highly successful, we often miss the details of the story, the difficult and trying times. Instead we see the glory and think that we need some of that, deserve some of that, but put in a Continental-like effort rather than gold-backed effort. Even more dubious, is our lack of appreciation for those who allowed us a degree of glory when mostly all they got was the gritty details of the story.
The Christian application of this is so easy as to almost preclude me from having to even mention it. Jesus' crown on this earth was thorns, a diabolical manifestation of the Garden of Eden post-Fall. There were no jewels in his crown. Let us keep in mind the story behind His glory. Let us also be willing to work behind the glory and in the story to further God's mission on earth. Don't seek applause and commendation and adulation from the fickle crowd. Do the hard and thankless things and God will be pleased.
She told of the deprivation of the soldiers in food and drink during the winter encampment at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War. The Continental Army was literally dying of dehydration and starvation. Soldiers would go around the camp screeching like crows, "No Meat" as kind of a macabre joke and cry. Then, the statements got even more dire, "No bread, no soldier." Mass desertion, what the English were counting on as they were comfortably camped in Philadelphia, became more and more a real risk.
The British were counterfeiting the American currency, the Continental, which was not backed by silver or gold. So, an already fledgling monetary system was further damaged by British currency sabotage. The Continental became so devalued, that providers of goods and services would not always accept it as payment. There was a derisive insult back in those days where a person would say, "Not worth a Continental." Further, the states were still issuing their own currency which further caused chaos. Because of this, the Continental Army often would not be able to buy needed supplies.
Into this mess of money and materials, George Washington appointed a man by the name of Major General Nathanael Green to be the Quartermaster General, a position supervising the procurement of supplies. As an accomplished and battle-worthy commander Greene greatly resented and resisted the appointment. A a field officer, he wanted to fight. Only Washington's personal appeal and Greene's personal integrity eventually persuaded him to fight the supply battle that was the basis for the very success or defeat on the battlefield.
The Quartermaster General position was "unremitting, annoying, and thankless labor." The Continental Congress even wanted to stiff him with some of the bills. Greene held on as long as he could in the position until it became untenable. Yet, he had served in a time of desperate need and made a huge difference in turning the tide of the Revolutionary War. How many of us even know his name?
I heard a preacher on the radio recently state, "Everyone wants the glory but no one wants to hear the story." Even with the highly successful, we often miss the details of the story, the difficult and trying times. Instead we see the glory and think that we need some of that, deserve some of that, but put in a Continental-like effort rather than gold-backed effort. Even more dubious, is our lack of appreciation for those who allowed us a degree of glory when mostly all they got was the gritty details of the story.
The Christian application of this is so easy as to almost preclude me from having to even mention it. Jesus' crown on this earth was thorns, a diabolical manifestation of the Garden of Eden post-Fall. There were no jewels in his crown. Let us keep in mind the story behind His glory. Let us also be willing to work behind the glory and in the story to further God's mission on earth. Don't seek applause and commendation and adulation from the fickle crowd. Do the hard and thankless things and God will be pleased.
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