MAHONEY’S MOMENTS

April 2025: Serving Others Remains a Calling

Over twenty years ago, I read a report from the Public Agenda Foundation entitled “A Sense of Calling” which as I recall suggested that people who entered the public service to work often did so because they felt this special sense of calling about the work. Since that time, I’ve asked dozens of audiences of teachers, police officers, scientists, government agents, healthcare workers, etc. if they felt a sense of calling about their work. Almost magical attraction to it? A special sauce of motivation, empathy, and drive to do something good for the public? The answer was always a resounding YES.

Michael Lewis, a NYT best-selling author just published a new book with others entitled, “Who is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service.” The book is a series of essays about public servants who have done incredible work serving the public in quiet and profound ways. They most certainly have this sense of calling. Consider Christopher Mark, the unsung coal miner turned mine engineer and inspector at the US Bureau of Mines. He almost single-handedly through research, perseverance, and tenacity stopped roofs from collapsing in coal mines ending decades of deaths and injuries to coal miners. Chris changed forever how the mining industry measures roof support with a new combination of technology, inspection, and regulation.

Lewis’s book is filled with stories about uncelebrated public servants. They perform myriad tasks like ensuring veterans are buried with dignity, tracking data to provide statistics that are used to provide keen insights to elected officials, or storing historical records safely for individuals and the country. Or consider his narrative of an IRS super-agent who investigates cybercrime and has scored win after win by following crypto currency to safely apprehend people who are terrorists.

While I enjoyed Lewis’s national stories of federal government workers, I thought about teachers I knew who transformed student lives and firefighters and police officers who both saved lives and prevented the loss of others. Draftees like my classmates who were called upon and served honorably in Vietnam. Or nonprofit leaders who take on intractable problems that most often help the least among us. These are everyday people who make the lives of their local community safer and better. Whether it’s controlling crime, fighting terrorism, defending our country, insuring you have safe water to drink, or feeding the hungry, these folks show up everywhere.

Public service is still a calling, and I meet people every day who forgo recognition, higher salaries, and prestige to perform tasks that help the people in their community. They do the lifting to put unity in the community. They too feel this sense of calling noted by Ben Franklin when he said, “do well by doing good for others.”

Perhaps Senator, former astronaut, and WW2 fighter pilot John Glenn said it best when during a debate for one of his first Senate runs he offered this rebuttal when questioned by his primary opponent earlier that he had never held a job…just always working for the government was the implication. John Glenn’s response in part: “…I can’t believe you said I have never held a job. I served twenty-three years in the United States Marine Corps. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti- aircraft fire on twelve different occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn’t my checkbook; it was my life on the line…and they required a dedication to purpose and a love of country and a dedication to duty that was more important than life itself.” Now you can see why I was honored for many years to serve as school superintendent where our high school was named John Glenn to honor him in his hometown.

We all have gifts including those who apply theirs in local, state, and national government service to help others. God bless them.