Why do I do it?

Recently, I was asked, in front of a group of people I was presenting to, a question that I wasn't prepared to answer. They asked me " Why do you do it?" The question referred to my employment: doing a work I rarely see the end result of,  helping young people who are in tough situations, who have little gratitude, while I am paid a comparably low wage. My answer was jumbled with some "ums" , "i like helping people" and a joke thrown in because, at the time I really couldn't think of a comprehensive idea of why I do do it. Afterwards, It thought that I really should know why I do the work I do.

There is a chance that even after I think this idea through and type it out I still won't truly know the answer, but I will know what one answer might be.

Why do I do it?

Ninety-seven percent of the time while reading comics or watching movies, television shows, reading history (or a version of it) I have been drawn to the hero and have been able to see myself in their place, making the choices they make ( will admit there is the three percentage of times where I do identify with the villain-that might be another blog). But why do I identify with the hero?

When I was not quite yet born my mother had an encounter with God, she believed in Jesus Christ and got saved (as the vernacular was in the late seventies and early eighties). Getting saved was important to her and my dad later on. She was saved from going to hell, saved from drinking, saved from smoking, and saved from living a life with low moral standards. Based on her words and my observations growing up, it was important for her that those she cared for got saved as well. I think this idea became ingrained in my personality, to save the people I care about.

Very early on I committed to follow Jesus Christ myself, pursued getting to know what that meant and how to live it out. This meant I needed to read about Christianity. I read everything C.S. Lewis had written, some of it twice and committed to reading or listening to the Bible, as part of my lifestyle. What I found was that Jesus came to find the people who were lost and to save them. Sometimes he saved them from other people, mostly he saved them from sickness and disease, and ultimately through dying and coming back to life saved their spirits from ultimate death. A commitment to follow Jesus Christ and become like him logically followed, in my mind, that I needed to do the same thing.
As a teen I was fairly obsessed with Star Wars, Star Trek, Comic Books, Sherlock Holmes and Indiana Jones. The theme in these stories is, for the most part, saving people, races, planets, and friends. I knew I wanted to be saving people.

A man must know his destiny… if he does not recognize it, then he is lost. By this I mean, once, twice, or at the very most, three times, fate will reach out and tap a man on the shoulder… if he has the imagination, he will turn around and fate will point out to him what fork in the road he should take, if he has the guts, he will take it.” 

― George S. Patton Jr.

Sometimes this saving came in ways that are not conventional, not sanctioned by society, or didn't even resemble the act of saving. But the theme was always helping those who needed help, even at the expense of self (see the example of Jesus Christ). 

The driving force behind what I do, in my work with youth and disadvantaged people is my connection to Jesus Christ. I endeavor to do everything out of love, sometimes my love, sometimes the love of God; sometimes it is a mix of both. The bible tells us that greater love has no one than this: to lay down his life for a friend. I believe this and feel compelled to live my life to help others. 

I see this world as a beautiful connection of spirits, souls, and bodies. Some people have been disconnected from this beautiful connection. By helping people become their best and connecting them with others and with God, the world is as it should be. When this doesn't happen I feel pain, sorrow, and it fuels me to work harder than I think I can and do more than is required of me.

Based I what I know of God and have read, I have faith that what I am doing matters. Faith that everything, no matter how small, makes a difference. Faith that good always triumphs over evil. Faith that I am fulfilling my purpose and that God is taking care of me in that place. I do not always, or even often, see the positive outcomes, but I believe they are happening. I do not always have a perfect sense of how to best help people, but when I am afraid I become courageous. I think that courage is fear hanging on a minute longer. That is how the world is impacted, that is how people are saved, that is how I help. It is why I do it.

A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.

-Christopher Reeve

Where are you?

God I am thankful for where I am right now.
So many times and so much time is spent trying to get to where we want to be or where we are going.
God I am thankful for where I am right now.
This house, this land, this country, this earth.
God I am thankful for where I am right now.
This job, this income, these material items.
God I am thankful for where I am right now.
So many of us envy to be others or to be like others; feeling jealousy continually.
God I am thankful for where I am right now.

There are people in our lives for a reason; don't take them for granted before they are taken.

God I am thankful for where I am right now.

Just yesterday I spoke with a few individuals that I hadn't seen in a little while. Each of them may have a tough time saying "God I am thankful for where I am right now", maybe not- but listening to them made me say it.

The first guy I hadn't seen since December. He had taken a trip to southern Ohio to live in a community of Juggalos (not to be confused with gigolos). He came by and said hi with his traveling backpack and a girl with bright pink hair. He said he plans on being around permanently.

The second guy I hadn't seen in about 3 months. He had been staying at an out of town shelter and working long days as a roofer for the summer. I will say he looked like he was in better shape than the last time I saw him. I surmised he probably made good money seeing that he didn't have any bills at the shelter. He said he only had a couple hundred dollars saved and was thinking of moving to Georgia with some nice people he had met at the shelter.

The third guy I hadn't seen in about four months. He is a pretty hyper active guy and it really is hard to follow his conversations; they are always so emotional as well. But I did get that he had been traveling with the carnival for the past few months. He told me that he met a lot of people who had warrants out on them and they were keeping on the move. He mentioned that he didn't particularly fit in so he came back to stay with his parents; whom he usually doesn't get along with.

The fourth guy I had seen about a month ago. He only lives a short distance away (by car). He has a medical marijuana license so people let him live with them (though I don't see what it would matter if they didn't have a medical marijuana license). He didn't say much other than the fact that he had to be going to get the bus soon (he told me the time to the minute).

People everywhere are living their own lives. Some may appear better than others, some may appears worse than others. But, God I am thankful for where I am right now.

 Timothy 6:6-11

New International Version (NIV)

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.