EMS and Servants
When I was a younger guy, I was blessed with the opportunity to serve my community through volunteerism in emergency medical services (and also to work professionally in a large city doing the same). Along with some other dedicated individuals, I was able to help influence a cultural shift in a volunteer organization; as part of that shift, I created the following patch to go on uniforms, which we decided to wear.
Symbols are very important in encouraging people, and someone wearing a uniform and exhibiting pride can be more helpful to a scared, injured person than a random Joe in sweatpants. The uniform encourages pride in the provider, which in turn instills confidence in the ill and injured.
But I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to convey with the words. My inchoate idea was that we were providers. Not just random people, but rather volunteer professionals.
Now that I’ve thought about it a lot more, I wish I could have better conveyed the concept that, as educated, free providers, we were not just “volunteers,” but rather SERVANTS. God helped explain that part, saying,
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
With love, always,
—Luke
