Rick Barton, Fire Safety Officer; Rick Barton Ministries, Gunnison, CO; Fellowship of Christian Firefighters International Ambassador-at-Large

DON’T YOU DARE LAUGH

Or maybe you should laugh, but with a humble heart

Have you ever tried really hard to be serious and failed miserably? I was the crew boss in charge of mopping up a one-hundred-acre forest fire. My position was above the crew on the adjoining hillside, from where I could direct them to spot fires. At the end of my shift I began heading cross-country to the main trail back to the vehicles. Instead of following the flagging, I took a “shortcut.” I soon reached the main trail and started hiking out.

The problem was, I kept coming across fallen trees across the trail—trees that weren’t there that morning. After a half-hour of struggling over the downfall, I pulled out my compass. It, too, was messed up. It said I was headed away from the vehicles and directly into the wilderness area.

What about the time we were in the midst of the Colorado Wildfire Academy? The lead information officer for our incident management team was teaching a classroom full of eager trainees. Suddenly, one of the students noticed that the sign on the door read, “Infoamation Officer.” The instructor had goofed up her own title.

Or the time on fire patrol when I got turned around in “Lost Canyon” and called in a smoke that turned out to be the cement factory south of town? (A fact I discovered after I’d already sent everybody north of town to find the “fire.”)

What do we do? How should we react in those moments? I think the only thing appropriate is to humble ourselves and laugh! We’re human and we goofed. No one was hurt, only our egos. I think the Lord may allow us to “discover” that no matter how much of a legend we are in our own minds, we really are fallible. And realizing our weaknesses is a good thing. It reminds us we are still learning. It also demonstrates our need to show grace toward others when they make mistakes. Proverbs 17:22 addresses this: “A cheerful heart is good medicine”—better than any doctor can prescribe, if you ask me. What better way to achieve a merry heart than to laugh at ourselves?

Of course, I confessed my mistakes to my co-workers . . . six or seven years later.

Prayer:

"Infoamation" or information, Lord, you know my heart and intentions. May my actions always be with you foremost in my heart. That way I can approach everything with a cheerful heart.