There are many reasons why someone would want to help those who are less advantaged. One of those could be guilt, compassion, compulsion, to get people into church, etc. But the best motivation is love. When it is done out of love you serve with the intention of profiting the individual. Love motivates you to give time, to give your best, to listen and to be patient. It helps you to put up with the rudeness, the smells, the ingratitude. When you love it brings out the best in you.
Matt came to us and we made a note of his name as we do with all of our friends. (We call them friends because they are not clients or sub-human). We fed him and give him some socks and he responded with words of thanks and then said "I've got some spare clothes at home I can donate them to you." I had to explain that we didn't want anything back but to accept what we gave him as a gift. Matt didn't get it but left this note for us.
"I just wanted to thank you for all the kindness that you showed to us today. I felt welcome from the moment that I walked in. Thank you so much."I once heard of a place where meals were dispensed with in a style like Oliver Twist, the organiser sternly summoning each table to receive their gruel like he was guiding in a Boeing 747 to an arrival gate. It was a chore, a task, done with duty and not love.
Love brings out the best in you and passes it onto others.
Good to hear something of the Selby goings-on Ian. Best wishes to you, Paula, Isobel and Martha. Have a blessed Christmas time, and keep writing.
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