You would think that coming up with 10 minutes of rhetoric to entertain a group of middle school students would be easy enough, but that seems to be eluding me at the moment. Service is the act of giving of one's self for the ultimate betterment of mankind, even if only in some small way, without the expectation or compensation of praise or personal gain. That sounds about right, doesn't it? The real challenge though, lies in the very words, "without the expectation or compensation of praise or personal gain". Here's the thing. Serving can feel really good. And why shouldn't it? I mean, you ARE doing something good, aren't you? However, the key thing to realize, whenever you are doing any kind of serving, is that you must keep in mind that you are doing this thing because it is the RIGHT thing to do. The fact that it is good is in fact the driving force, not the reaction that you may or may not get from the people on the receiving end of your deed. This is the lesson that I learned this past Christmas.
I had one of those "revelation moments" last December where the clouds parted, and the light hit me just right, and I remembered the true meaning of Christmas...presents! Ok, Ok, giving and sacrifice. With that in mind, I decided that I would head downtown and volunteer with an organization in Atlanta that, among other things, served Christmas dinner to disadvantaged families. After seeing a post on their Facebook page requesting help with getting the donated meals from the restaurant to the place where the meals would actually be served, I volunteered to be the transporter. I contacted the head chef at the restaurant, and I even went so far as to call the guy who was running the program to ensure everything was set.
The next day, Christmas Eve, I drove the 60 miles from my house to the restaurant and pulled into the parking lot actually excited to pick up the food. I walked in only to discover that someone else had gotten the food (an hour before I was told it would even be available), and basically, my efforts were in vain. I drove home with my sister (whom I had convinced to join me), and trying to make light of the situation, stopped by Starbucks and grabbed two Peppermint Mocha Frappucinos, just to take the sting out of the issue.
After having our customary cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, my sister and I loaded back up in the car and headed back to Atlanta to do the serving we had promised to do. As the familes began to pile into the crowded confines of the building, we learned that each volunteer would be matched up with a family and would be spending the afternoon in fellowship learning the personal stories of each family member. Now keep in mind that these families are all supposed to be economically disadvantaged, so imagine my surprise when I saw that each person in my assigned family was carrying a cell phone with internet capability and was actively using that ability. But why did I assume that just because they have cell phones that they didn't need some kind of support? We spent the afternoon in gradually more and more casual conversations about anything from NBA hoops to complaints about our jobs (but thankful for having one at all), and it dawned on me that this is what my service on this day was all about. Namely, not me. To share, even if for only a few hours, common concerns, complaints, and the occasional debate over Falcons vs. Saints, it meant that regardless of our situations, we were all just people trying to get through life. See, that's the thing about serving. You usually end up getting as much if not more out of what you do than the people who are the actual recipients. Shhhh...don't tell anyone.
So, am I saying that service is really fueled by some self-aggrandizing motive? Not exactly. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once tried to describe this situation in a sermon he entitled "The Drum Major Instinct". His conlcusion was that if things were kept in perspective, this innate drive can be one of the most powerful and effective forces on Earth in the name of service, and each of us holds this ability within ourselves. And with that, I'll discontinue this rambling post and leave you with some far more coherent words from a far wiser man than I. I told you I would be abrupt.
"Everybody can be great...because everybody can serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. And you can be that servant." - MLK, Jr.
Please, as always, feel free to share your opinions, good, bad, and in between.
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