The Badge

I often find that my badge, or name tag, at work has flipped around so that my name and title is not visible.  Perhaps this was why the Daddy in one of our deliveries asked one of our other nurses who I was.

There had been some issues right about the time the patient was to begin pushing regarding which family members should be in the room.  Evidently some intervention was needed and Robbie, the patient's nurse, was busy doing what we nurses do at that point in time.  I spoke with all the people involved and dealt with the issue. 

After the patient had recovered, as they were being transferred to their postpartum room, the Daddy asked Robbie for her name and then for my name as he couldn't remember them in all the excitement.  Then he asked her about me, "Is she a charge nurse or something?"

Robbie informed him that I was the assistant manager of the unit and he replied that he could sense that from the firmness I had exhibited in the situation.  My attitude reflected the authority of my position, but more than that, it represents authority given to me by "bigger people."

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It reminded me of the episode on The Andy Griffith Show called "Lawman Barney,"in which Barney has an issue with two farmers illegally selling produce on the road.   At the end of the episode Barney  confronts the farmers and finds his inner strength.  As they edge closer towards him in a threatening way, he tells them that despite them both being bigger than he is, his badge "represents a lot of people that are a lot bigger than either one of you."  His courage defeats them and they pack up and leave.

Barney's badge represented the authority of his position. . .it represented "bigger people".

The Lord Jesus Christ is the express image of God...He is the earthly expression of God the Father and God the Spirit.  His physical life represents to us more than just Himself, it represents the whole Trinity, the whole character of the Godhead.  If we want to know what God the Father is like, we just look at the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.  If we want to know what God the Spirit is like, we just look at the Lord Jesus. 

"Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, 

and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins,

 sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;" 

Hebrews 1:3