I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.
– Mother Teresa
This past Thursday I attended a volunteer banquet put on by our local Salvation Army. I have been involved for a number of years as both an advisory board member and supporter of this wonderful international ministry whose mission is to make a difference by reaching out in love with the transforming message of Jesus to those who are hurting, broken, dispossessed, and lost.
In our prosperous and relatively small community, among other things we accomplished during 2012, our local Salvation Army provided overnight lodging to over 10,000 shelter less men and served over 25,000 meals to those who were hungry. We also collected and distributed over 8,300 gifts to local children who otherwise might not have received a present on Christmas Day.
The keynote speaker at this event was the Divisional Commander of the Salvation Army’s for Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. He began by emphasizing the Salvation Army’s manifesto, parts of which are excerpted below:
I am doing the most good.
I am hope.
I am compassion.
I am strength.
I am faith.I am doing the most good.
I serve a community.
A region.
A nation.
A world.
I serve heroes.
I serve victims.
I serve a sovereign God.I am doing the most good.
I am an Army.
Drafted by the Creator.
Commissioned by a man who defied death.
My enemies are despair and destruction.
My ammunition is grace and mercy.
My allies are generosity and benevolence.
I am an Army.
Helping others be all they can be…I am blessed.
I am a blessing.I am the Salvation Army.
I am doing the most good.
The “I” here is not meant to be singular. The fact is, the Salvation Army is a collective effort, for love cannot exist, cannot grow, cannot thrive and cannot endure in a vacuum because the essence of love is when we forget ourselves in devotion to or in the service of others – our spouse, our family, our friends, our associates, our God. When we think too much of ourselves and our own interests, we can easily fall into self-indulgence, covetousness, cupidity and ultimately despondency. But, when we work for others, our effort returns to bless us. Hence, we are blessed by being a blessing!
Trying to do the job of life alone is a recipe for defeat and failure, much like the fellow who, following an accident on the job, wrote the following letter to response to his disability insurance company’s request for more details about how he sustained his injuries:
Dear Sir,
I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In Block Number 3 of the accident report form, I put “trying to do the job alone” as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully, and I trust that the following details will be sufficient:
I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the rooftop of a six story building. When I completed my work, I discovered that I had 500 pounds of brick left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley which fortunately was attached to the side of the building at the sixth floor.
Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 500 pounds of brick. However, you will note that in Block Number 11of the accident report form I indicated that I currently weigh 135 pounds.
Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building.
In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains my fractured skull and broken collarbone.
Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two-knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain.
At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground—and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighed approximately fifty pounds. I refer you again to my weight in block number 11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building.
In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles and the lacerations of my legs and lower body.
The encounter with the barrel slowed me down enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of bricks and, fortunately, only three of my vertebrae were cracked.
I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks—in pain, unable to stand and watching the empty barrel six stories above me—I again lost my presence of mind and…
I let go of the rope.
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” – Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
MORAL: People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy, for very few of us are wise by our own counsel, or learned by our own teaching. For he who is taught by himself alone, has had a fool for his teacher…so, don’t allow yourself or others to be singular journeyers on the road of life. Be a blessing and be blessed!
Have an AWE-full weekend!
William J. “Bill” Bacque’