On a Mission

“I expect to pass through this life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” ~William Penn, English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the “Province” of Pennsylvania (1644-1718)

“What do you think about us going to the mission and feeding the homeless for Thanksgiving?” I asked my dubious daughter. “I guess it’s OK,” she replied with a shrug. I could tell she had no idea what she was getting into. Frankly, neither did I.

It was the weekend before Thanksgiving and I was feeling particularly parental. My daughter was in fourth grade and I got the bright idea it was time to give her a “positive life experience.” My plan was to go to the local mission, feed the homeless Thanksgiving dinner for a couple hours, then go to a nice hotel brunch for our Thanksgiving dinner. There was a particularly lavish one I had wanted to try out.

(No good deed goes unpunished it seems. Particularly when it is our idea of a good deed and we have strings attached to it.) Leafing through the yellow pages I quickly found what I was looking for; the number of our local mission. Punching the numbers into the wall phone I waited expectantly; anticipating a cheerful “hello” followed by effusive gratitude. The phone rang for what seemed like a very long time. Finally, there was a click on the other end.

I half expected a dial tone or an answering machine. Instead, I was momentarily stunned by a gruff voice on the other end. “Mission!” was the only word they spoke. “Is this the city mission?” I asked pleasantly. “Yeah,” came the monosyllabic response. “My family and I would like to volunteer to help at your Thanksgiving Dinner.” Before I could even give my well rehearsed speech about how it would be a good experience for my daughter the curt voice on the other end of the phone cut me off, “We’re full…you’re the twentieth person whose called today.” My plans melted in front of me. “What about Christmas?” The “mas” wasn’t even out of my mouth when the response came. “We’re full then too…why don’t you call back in July when we really need help” (click).

I stood there staring at the lifeless receiver in my hand. My expectation of an ego boost from a grateful and gracious response had been doused with the ice water of reality. Everyone wants to volunteer at the holidays. Everyone wants to be a good person when “tis the season” to do good works. Though I promised myself I would, I never called back in July.

“If our entry into heaven required a letter of reference from the poor, would we be able to get one?” There are 1.02 billion hungry people in the world today. Every day over 16,000 children (1 every 5 seconds) will die from hunger. But how can there not be enough food to go around? The combined net worth of the three richest people in the world is greater than the combined net worth of the 48 poorest nations, representing one quarter of the world’s population. Hunger is a daily reality for most of the world.

Stewardship is not a seasonal occurrence. It is the lifelong response of a faithful disciple; a response which calls us to be grateful and giving year round. Am I suggesting the people who only volunteer during the holidays are misguided or unworthy?

No, all volunteers deserve our gratitude and affirmation. But, what if we, as a society, approached sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the prisoner and providing for needy children with the same gusto, through out the year, as we exhibit during the holidays. What if we brought all that intensity, excitement and commitment to bear 24/7/365? How much suffering could we alleviate?

My gruff friend was right…Call back in July!

Dear God: Remind me I am called to be a full time steward not just a part time volunteer.

“Sometime in your life, hope that you might see one starved man, the look on his face when the bread finally arrives. Hope that you might have baked it or bought or even kneaded it yourself. For that look on his face, for your meeting his eyes across a piece of bread, you might be willing to lose a lot, or suffer a lot, or die a little, even.” ~Daniel Berrigan, American poet, peace activist and Catholic Priest (b1921)


© 2010 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.

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