#1878 Mirror of the Heart "Volunteerism"

#1878

Mirror of the Heart

"Volunteerism"

"As a Volunteer" - W.S. Brown

     He calls you, for He loves you
     With a heart most kind,
     He whose heart was broken,
     Broken for mankind;
     Now, just now, He calls you,
     Calls in accents clear,
     Will you be enlisted
     As a volunteer?

"Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost."  Arthur Schopenhauer

Success in the minds of most people is disguised by numbers.  Everyone counts numbers in everything, instead of making numbers count. 

The greatest rewards of life and you realize this after you reach old age, actions from which you get no financial return.

The humanitarianism of volunteerism, bringing to those with you whom you are blessed to come in contact, that God does not eliminate problems but gives you the means to get through problems.

The world and people in the world are so absorbed in self, meism...the grace of volunteering.

The growth of a tree must be bent early in order for it to mature in the right direction. 

There is a divine chemistry in men and women.  Women are destined to nurture; men to protect-provide-venture.  Men are wired to be heroes.  People so admire heroes: Livingston, Lindbergh, etc.  The earliest Greek and Roman heroes, Hercules-Thor.  The twentieth century brought on comic book heroes: Superman, Spider-Man, and Batman.  Can you understand why the world is in the condition it is in?  These superheroes are from fatherless houses...not families.  In WWII, comic books featuring white superhuman men were used to teach recruits to read-use training manuals.  There is nothing in hero comic books about the family, rather feats of masochism-heroic adventure.  More recent, women became superheroes, many Japanese comic books written by women.  (Japanese manga is a feminine production.)  The first comic books, Detective, produced by two Jewish boys and sold to the industry for one hundred thirty dollars.  There is a generosity in investing in others...once thought to be Christian, now taken over by the secular world.

Can one even imagine the importance of a secular mission like Meals on Wheels: volunteers from every walk of life at their own expense, taking food-needed nutrition to disabled and homebound public? 

When you have experienced real life, real living...the "fake stuff" does not hold up anymore.  The secret of generosity is volunteerism.

Those at the church house never understood or fully appreciated the real believers who never got paid for always being there, the greeters-ushers-musical instrument players-choir members-Sunday school teachers-leaders at prayer meetings, study courses.  The pastor got a nice package but committed-concerned-convinced believers did the work.  Not just at scheduled services, but at funerals, special occasions, these volunteers were always in place...most never getting a thank you.  One organist told me that she had never been paid one time for a funeral but she knew the pastor got paid.

Find those who have carved the path of service, civic clubs-youth club leaders-supervising coaches of youth recreation.  False perceptions, false values, God does not judge as human-beings judge.  He knows the heart, he made the eye, he can see through "fakery". 

Everyday, every way, we enter other's worlds; thank God there are still those with the integrity and honesty to honor God-family-country by volunteering.

The bed is too short; the blanket too narrow, something always sticks out.  In the military, I could always tell a volunteer from a drafted soldier. 

At the end, it is not where we started but where we finish.  We are not stuck where we start, God deliver me from anyone who has never been broken.  Those who have known poverty-sought mercy from God or from others are best prepared to sympathize and empathize.  The greatest service of human life, to do for others...never before in the history of volunteering is there a greater challenge than helping those with addictions: illegal and legal drugs-alcohol-food-sex-gambling-etc. 

The more balls you try to juggle, the more likely you are to drop one.  You can't do it all, the need is too great.  Pick your area of volunteering and bask in the joy of knowing others view your heart through a very special mirror.  I still remember Ms. Sullivan, who taught boys and girls in Sunday school at our country church for twenty-seven years.  We have an 80-20 world, 20 percent are volunteers, one way or another, and 80 percent are always on the sidelines.  20 percent pay the taxes; rescue the perishing, care for the dying, show homage to children-elderly-animals without thinking of any costs involved.  Most work is done by 20 percent of the people, 80 percent have learned how to manipulate the system.

In Baswana, Africa, I was standing on a mountain side, near a large valley watching a large herd of wildebeests.  Not far from me were some bushes from which three lions watched the herd.  The lions knew as soon as their presence was known the herd would stampede, leaving behind those who could not stay up or keep up, the weak, the disabled, the sick, the newly born...the lions would just gobble them up.  Would we be any better if not for the volunteers who do not run with the rich and famous, who have a heart for the disenfranchised?  The Rotarian motto, "Service above self" I have know many Rotarians in my time...very few real ones.