Today’s author is Naomi Sveholm. Naomi is a missionary with Central Europe Teachers teaching English at a bilingual Lutheran high school in Bratislava, Slovakia with her spouse and two children.
The song “Bus Driver” by Caedmon’s Call tells the story of a bus driver faithfully orbiting the town. Although the Ashbury sign is gone, people still wait, knowing the bus will arrive. Regular riders include bank and retail workers, whose jobs the driver doesn’t understand, and though the driver supposes the town would not miss one bus’ exhaust if it weren’t present, even with their limited scope, the driver also recognizes that the bank and retail store wouldn’t be the same.
The song was written because Derek Webb and other members of the band noticed that a number of their friends felt their ordinary jobs were meaningless or unappreciated, especially when compared to the reach of being in a successful band.
I work at a university-track high school, so most of my students go on to white-collar work, but in a tutoring session this year I asked a student “what jobs do you think are most valuable to society?” She responded with a number of skilled blue-collar jobs that maintain society’s basic infrastructure and function. Many of those same jobs were considered essential workers during the COVID pandemic.
Paul begs the Ephesians to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” with humility, gentleness, patience, and love. We are not necessarily called to a specific job (though we may be), but to do God’s work wherever we are.
Somehow whenever I read a passage on call, I’m reminded of this song, of how small acts, normal routines, can make a big difference. Caedmon’s Call even released a Bus Driver 2 (It All Matters After All) some years after the first song, though I like the original Bus Driver better.
I’m just hoping to be a person who can be counted on, someone who shares my small gifts and maybe makes a difference in a few people’s lives, in my sphere of influence.
If you’re called to be a bus driver, I hope you’re a good one. You make a difference.
Dear God,
Help us to notice the everyday actions that make a difference in people’s lives and to follow through with them and do your work.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen