An interesting thing happened last weekend. I was invited to speak at a church across town that is doing a sermon series on "Improving Your Serve." I was asked to tell success stories from
Faith in Action that might inspire people to volunteer. I told about a woman about my age who visits and does weekly grocery shopping for an 80+ year old woman who lives alone and can't drive any more. The volunteer is going to give this woman a ride to Hood River later this month so she can attend the wedding of a special young friend and, for a moment at least, together they will push back the dark walls of isolation and lonliness. I also told about a family caring for a sweet little girl who will always need someone they can trust to watch over her and how volunteers around the community are signing up to hang out with girls and boys like her so parents can have a short break from worry, if nothing else.
The interesting part is this. For the first time, I didn't feel like I was going to pass out before standing up to speak somewhere. I think that would be public speaking progress! Yoga breathing - I recommend it. Then something wierd happened. I found that while standing up there on the far side of the floodlights, I was enjoying myself and when I was done, I actually felt like I had said what I was supposed to say, which ended with something close to my notes which say this:
People opening their hearts and lives to each other is what makes Faith in Action so wonderful. As people from different walks of life come together, getting to know and trust each other, we are developing relationships that provide parents who are caring for a child with special needs and children who are caring for their aging parents (sometimes from a great distance) with a few moments free from worry, concern, isolation, frustration, and limitation through the simple act of friendship. It is a wonderful gift to have someone who accepts you the way you are and who is willing to join your journey through life’s unexpected detours. People connected through Faith in Action (volunteer and recipient alike) all get to experience unconditional friendship and that, I think, is what brings the healing ministry of Jesus to life in our world today. When we get out of our church walls, beyond our immediate circle of friends, and across socioeconomic lines, we bring Jesus’ ministry alive and that’s a wonderful thing to be a part of.
To which one fine brother said, "Amen."
