I’m still thinking about a line I lifted out of the message this
Sunday at church: To be a bridge for the hopeless, you must be ready to be
trampled upon.
I’m adding this as a sub-text to one of my most-repeated
phrases, “No good deed goes unpunished,” something a former boss used to say to
me whenever I complained about my latest bruising.
Doesn’t it seem like whenever you are trying to help
somebody, whether a specific person or a general, ideal of a group (the
“homeless,” “those kids”) you get stepped on a little bit, jostled, and pushed
around. And then you wonder, what the
heck am I doing this for? I could instead be sitting back, reading that book
that I’ve been stuck on chapter one forever because I’ve been so busy doing
this thing and sipping a glass of wine.
Being of service to others isn’t easy. It requires sacrifice
of time, energy, emotion, and, often, personal resources. And as a Veteran who
spoke at an event I went to last week reminded us, it requires a sacrifice from
your family and loved ones around you.
When you go to volunteer at the food pantry, you might be missing dinner
with your family. When you help coach
the basketball team, your own kid is missing out on the time to play catch with
you. When you are sitting in PTA
meeting, planning the bake sale to buy books for the reading room, you are
missing a conversation with your spouse. Dropping those clothes off at the job
training center is cutting into happy hour with your friends. So the sacrifice is your’s, but also your
family’s and friends’.
On top of all that, sometimes, folks don’t appreciate your
service. Sorry, it’s true. Whether the recipient, other people you are working
with, or other people who would like to be doing what you are doing but for
some reason are not. You will have
detractors and nay-sayers, unfortunately.
Someone will complain that you should’ve bought canned beans for the
food drive, not macaroni and cheese. You
should’ve donated hats, not scarves.
They will whisper that you drive a Benz and just came back from a
vacation in Hawaii, but only bought two tickets to the school play. Sorry. It’s going to happen.
When all this happens and you are looking at the footprints
up and down your spirit, look outwards.
Look toward the other side. Where
are you trying to help people get to. Are you trying to make sure kids are warm
this winter? Do you want to make sure
families are fed? Do you want women to
have a safe haven when they are abused or assaulted? Are you trying to get a crosswalk at your
school? Do you have this crazy notion
that every child should be able to read, no matter their country of
origin? Keep your eyes there, on that
distant side. Keep in mind the
destination you are trying to help people reach. Dust off some of those dusty footprints. And keep leading people to a new place.
And in case no-one else says it, “thank you for your
service.”
Join the conversation on Facebook: Just Piddlin' with Frances
No comments:
Post a Comment