Sarah's Hope

A Humbling Experience

So today as part of Spring Training the RA and Res. Life staff went to a women and children's shelter in Baltimore called Sarah's Hope. We spent the morning organizing and cleaning some of their basement and then made lunch for the residents and ate with them. It was a really nice experience that gave perspective on the blessings I have. I hope to get back to Sarah's Hope again and do some more work... maybe engaging OASIS (Peabody's Student gov.) in a community service project.

Later in the day I was reading some of C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity and he happened to talk about giving. C. S. Lewis says, "I'm afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare." What a terrifying idea. But then if we think about all we could spare... its disgusting how little we are willing to give. Right now, sitting in my dorm room, I am staring at pointless luxuries. One could argue just how pointless or in fact necessary they might be, but the point is it is possible to survive without them. Why?

And probably the craziest part of it is, I won't change. I'll hit the publish button and move on. Sarah's Hope will stay with me, but it won't move me to change my habits. I might go back, I might not. I might volunteer more elsewhere, I might not. But I won't stop buying things I don't need, and giving that money, time, or effort elsewhere to people who need it.

While C. S. Lewis hasn't sold me with this book, I don't disagree with some of what he says. (Incidentally, he acknowledges that is exactly the dilemma with Christianity: we pick and choose what we believe.) And in this same section of the book he brings up the golden rule. "Do as you would be done by," is his phrase of choice, and he says that this is not a Christian doctrine, not even new to the world of 1 AD. The golden rule is something we all know and have known, but spend our entire lives making excuses to slip around. Why? What would the world be like if we all followed that rule... even if just most of the time?

Could we ever get there?
Well, I don't know, but as a member of the human community it is my duty to try. Forgive me when I fail, catch me when I fall, and thank me if I succeed at all.

Thank you for everything.