Volunteering—rooted in infinite Love

When our daughters were young, and I was a stay-at-home mom, I spent many hours volunteering at their elementary school. By the time they were in high school, my assistance wasn’t needed as much. It seemed right to reexamine where else I could make the best contribution.

I thought about activities I'd enjoyed in the past. Playing the piano in a nursing home, helping the public library get books to the homebound, and teaching children to read had been useful to others and brought big blessings to my own life.

There are countless ways to help others, and I had no problem thinking of things I could do. But none of them seemed right for me at that moment.

Because I didn’t have an immediate plan, I decided to pray about the whole volunteer issue. I turned to God with an open heart and a desire to serve Him.

The one thing that did feel right was to continue volunteering at church. As I worked on different jobs there, I kept asking God, “How can I be most useful to You?” I felt good about my church work, but I also wanted to be directly involved with the wider community. After all, the news shows us an endless stream of needs around the world. What can one person do to chip away at all of that?

Many large church groups and other organizations accomplish much with their manpower and funds—and yet there’s always still more to do. I could be grateful for the contribution these large organizations were making without feeling that what I had to give was any less significant.

Mary Baker Eddy, whose book Science and Health is the inspiration for this site, once wrote to a church in New York, “As an active portion of one stupendous whole, goodness identifies man with universal good” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 165 ). No contribution is too small to have a grand effect. Each act of love and goodness has the power of God behind it.

I realized that the qualities we bring to what we do, and the willingness to actively play our part in expressing this universal good, are more important than the quantity of time, money, or other resources we give.

When volunteering has its roots in infinite Love, no one is left out. Everyone can feel loved, act on love, and recognize its importance. This solid basis helps us see that sharing our time, talents, and care blesses us.

These ideas prepared me to take on an even more active role in the community. Before long, I learned that the local soup kitchen needed more volunteer help. I had never worked in a soup kitchen before, but it seemed like just the right thing. So in addition to my church work, every Friday you can now find me scrubbing pots and pans in the soup kitchen!

I enjoy chatting with the clients as they bring their trays for me to wash. I also like getting to know those who are working in the soup kitchen to fulfill court-assigned community service hours.

I was recently thinking about the familiar saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” It occurred to me that the beholder isn’t actually a person, but divine Love itself.

So my contribution to the community, and the world, is not just a stack of clean dishes (as important as that is), but also an acknowledgement of the spiritual nature of each person who passes through the doors.

Whether they are eating, serving, preparing food, or cleaning up, I know that they are royalty–God’s beloved children, always protected and provided for.

I’ve always liked the idea of lending a hand to someone who needs it, and I appreciate knowing that others are doing the same. A strong and thriving community blesses its residents and has residents who continue to bless it. But as I’ve learned more about God, Love, and myself as Love’s expression, my volunteer work has taken on a deeper meaning.

Now my desire is not only to serve people in the community, but also to serve God first and foremost. This shift in focus has helped me find the best avenues to share my love and be useful.

Mrs. Eddy, who was a deeply respected member of her own community, wrote this: “What has not unselfed love achieved for the race? All that ever was accomplished, and more than history has yet recorded.” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, p. 238 ).

Through our unselfed love of the world, and our desire to serve God and His children today, we are accomplishing “more than history has yet recorded.”

Volunteering

Science and Health
79:31-32  
518:15-19

King James Bible
I Thess. 4:9