As I interviewed first responders for the last month, I thought, how fortunate am I that I get to write as my life service? I never know where a story will lead. Will I be surprised? Always. Will I have the courage to say what needs to be said? I strive for discernment. And so, that’s how it went for the last month as each First Responder I interviewed freshly inspired me. When sitting with my notes, I considered two metaphors.

Culture teaches us, and we often buy into the lessons, to fear the sky, the rain and snow falling from it, the sun to burn, and the moon to influence water. These fears are meant to separate us from the universe and Spirit’s creations. Now, imagine we are one with the sky in all its vastness. It is not up there; it is everywhere. There is no separation, only our perception of separation.

Now imagine the sky isn’t just outside; the sky is everywhere and within every building. It’s a metaphor for something that oversees us all, reaches out to everyone, and is in everyone. It’s not something to be feared or be separated from.

Now, I will use this metaphor: trees as caregivers. Do you know that when a tree is harmed or threatened, the other trees send support through its roots and limbs? It doesn’t matter to them what the species is. Sometimes, you’ll even see a limb incorporated into the limb of another tree. When one needs support, they are there for each other. When new saplings grow, the older trees make space.

After talking with the first responders, I thought of this: They embody a family based on their professional lives, but the world becomes their family when needed, all under one sky and branch out like tree roots and limbs. They are the caregivers and protectors we seek when we feel threatened or have been harmed.

They’re the ones who support us by carrying us away from danger, even knowing that, like the elements in the sky, they are also the ones we’re taught to be fearful of. Yet, they rise to serve faithfully, just like the moon and sun. Even when we can’t see them, they rise.

A hawk came from higher in the sky and perched outside my kitchen window last week. He delivered this message: for clarity, look from a higher perspective. So I did, and I remembered Raod Koehn, a paramedic I interviewed, said, “We’re not capes and swords; we’re human.”

And just like the sky is not separate, we humans are not separate. We are to help where help is needed and accept help when needed. Using parents as an example, Brad Timberlake, Director of Communications for Franklin County Regional Communications, pointed out that we are all First Responders, which doesn’t diminish the profession of First Responders but reminds us that we are all here as caregivers.

We all ultimately exist under the same blue sky. We can build a bigger sky together.

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