Is That Why You Do This?

Is That Why You Do This?

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Luke 10:27

He sat down next to me with a heavy sigh, bushy eyebrows peeking out from underneath the food-safety hairnet, the lower part of his face and the beard underneath it covered as well. The chatty, friendly woman across the table asked his name, and he told her it was Randy, then retreated into silence, concentrating on his task.

We, along with dozens of other volunteers, were in the midst of packaging meals for area residents. As I grabbed a large package of tomato basil pasta, measured out a meal’s worth of pasta, put it in a bag, and then passed it along to Randy to be sealed, he broke his silence.

“I wish we’d had meals this good when I was in Vietnam,” he said abruptly. Slowly, his story emerged: he had originally volunteered with this organization because he wanted to help other veterans like himself. He’d been in the army—special forces, to be exact. “So many veterans are homeless,” he said. “I can’t believe that twenty-two of them commit suicide every day.” Though his demeanor was gruff, the passion in his voice was clear.

“Is that why you do this—why you’re here?” the lady across the table asked.

“Yes,” he said quietly. On the surface, it was a simple answer. He was taking time out of his day to show love to his neighbors because he himself had experienced hardship. Yet a little later on, the depth of his passion, generosity, and desire to help those in need was revealed when a woman and three children surrounded the table. As one, their high voices piped out the “Happy Birthday” song to Randy, their grandpa. When they finished, they took up some of the empty spaces around the table to serve alongside him. Randy was there, serving all day—from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.—on his birthday, because the plight of others just like him moved him to do so.

Sometimes loving our neighbors means serving the people who literally live next door, and sometimes it means serving those who live in our neighborhood without homes of their own. When we become aware of the hardships of those around us, our compassion can spur us to meet our neighbors’ basic needs with something as simple as a meal offered from a servant’s heart.

—Kristin

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Make or purchase a meal for a neighbor who needs one.