Volunteer, It's Good For You!

The ancient philosopher, Aristotle, once said, “What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.” And, the ancient prophet, Isaiah said, “Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.” (Isaiah 58:10)

That is why we volunteer, isn’t it? To do good. To push back the darkness of this world in order to make it a little better. To get out beyond the self and gain broader perspective and deeper understanding.

I want people to know that volunteering is good for you. Volunteering is an activity that someone chooses to do without being paid. It can be formal or informal. Informal volunteering includes helping friends and family with things like babysitting, home repairs or caring for someone who is recovering from illness or injury. Formal volunteering usually takes place through a charity or other not-for-profit or community organization. Volunteering makes an immeasurable difference in the lives of others. But did you know how much you help yourself by giving back? From lowering stress to boosting self-confidence, volunteering offers many health benefits. I Googled it, and I found that there are over 19 million articles on how doing good helps people lead better, healthier lives. Here are a few of the benefits enumerated in several of the articles I found:

1.     Volunteering with and for others increases social interaction and helps build a support system based on common commitment and interests—both of which have been shown to decrease depression.

2.     Volunteering gives you a sense of purpose and fulfillment, and increases your self-confidence while you’re at it!

3.     Volunteering helps you stay physically and mentally active. A study released by Johns Hopkins University in 2009 revealed that volunteers actually increased their brain functioning. Volunteer activities get you moving and thinking at the same time.

4.     Volunteering will reduce stress levels. By savoring your time spent in service to others, you’ll feel a sense of meaning and appreciation—both given and received—which can be calming.

5.     When you volunteer, you experience “The Happiness Effect.” You know that feel-good sense you get after a vigorous workout? It comes from a release of dopamine in the brain. Helping others has that exact same effect—so the more you volunteer, the happier you become!

6.     Volunteering can open up opportunities to go abroad, as many organizations and programs put on “voluntourism” trips across the globe. Traveling spurs physical activity and mental planning while providing you different perspectives—literally and figuratively—on life.

Therefore, get on the Volunteerism train. It will do you and the world around you a lot of good. Someone once said, “Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in.” I don’t know about y’all, but I vote for community filled with selfless servants.

The Blessing of a Fresh Coat of Paint

         

          On Friday, April 20, 2018, I went with a few of my Soldiers to volunteer with the Augusta Parks and Recreation Department at the Magnolia Cemetery. We were tasked with repainting some park benches and sign posts. As I slowly moved from sign post to sign post I began to see that there was a lessons to be learned through this experience—the blessing of a fresh coat of paint.

          The signposts I painted were in dire need of a fresh coat of paint. It was obvious that many years, decades maybe, had passed since they had been painted. They were a faded gray color mixed with rust that made them blend in with the surrounding trees so well they almost disappeared. They were ugly, and looked almost hopeless. After I cleaned one, and applied a fresh coat of glossy black paint, it looked brand new. One of the easiest, least expensive, renovations that can be done is to apply a fresh coat of paint.

          As I continued painting and reflecting, I realized that the blessing of a fresh coat of paint applies to us as well (metaphorically speaking, please don’t put actual paint on yourself). There I was on a beautiful April morning in a cemetery surrounded by grave markers, trees, and quiet except for the sounds of birds singing, and I am struck by the juxtaposition of life and death; of beauty and sorrow. As I looked at the grave markers some very elaborate, and some merely a stone with a name, date of birth, date of death, and the dash in between, and as I watched how much of difference a simple coat of glossy black paint made on those old, faded, rusty sign posts, I learned the blessing of a fresh coat of paint—what seems like a disaster may be easier to refresh and renew than we think.

We humans are great at making things more difficult than necessary, especially when it comes to the life of faith. Receiving and living the abundant life God offers in and through Jesus is not easy, but it is simple. We simply need to say yes to Jesus, and no to self. We don’t need to “get our act together,” we need Jesus. The Old Hymn by Robert Lowry asks and answers the question, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” Eugene Peterson paraphrased 2 Corinthians 5:17 this way, “What we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons!” The blood of Jesus shed on the cross is all that is necessary for us to be made whole, and it is better than any paint job because it doesn’t just cover the past; in Christ we are made new. No matter how ugly, faded, and worn out we may feel, we can be renewed. “For in [Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him” (Colossians 1:19-21. NRSV).