Day 4**Scrooge and Marley
A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, is one of my all time favorites. Every Christmas season I look forward to watching the movie (in one of its many forms), or reading the book. It’s a timeless tale of service featuring delightful ghosts, magical travels through time, and, of course, the wonderfully reprehensible character of Ebenezer Scrooge.
One of my favorite scenes is where Scrooge is haunted by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley. The ghoul is weighed down with strong boxes, accounting books, and heavy chains. “These are the chains I forged in life,” Marley informs Scrooge, and warns that the burdens allotted for Ebenezer to wear upon his death are many times more ponderous.
Miserly Mr. Scrooge repudiates Marley’s warning by assuring him that he was always a good man of business.
“Business!” Marley wails. “Mankind was my business! Their common welfare was my business!”
That scene scared the stuffing out of me when I was little. It obviously scared Ebenezer too, for he agrees to allow other spooky spirits to visit him in hopes of undoing his fate.
In the end it all turns out well, with Mr. Scrooge changing from a selfish man, into a man who reaches out to others, and in the reaching discovering an interesting benefit—he’s happy. I love the final scenes where the once grumpy Ebenezer can’t stop giggling for joy as he contemplates different ways to serve others.
I suppose the moral of A Christmas Carol is, if you don’t want your sleep disturbed by a parcel of pesky poltergeist, be on the look-out for a Bob Cratchit or Tiny Tim who might need your generosity.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Stops at the Service Station
Day 3**Mother Teresa and me
Mother Teresa is one of my touchstones, and although she has passed away, I speak of her in the present tense, because her words and her example are living things. Her wise thoughts concerning service will be scattered lovingly throughout these posts, and we can all be assured that this little mighty woman practiced what she preached.
"The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace." Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa is one of my touchstones, and although she has passed away, I speak of her in the present tense, because her words and her example are living things. Her wise thoughts concerning service will be scattered lovingly throughout these posts, and we can all be assured that this little mighty woman practiced what she preached.
"The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace." Mother Teresa
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Stops at the Service Station
Day 2**Cloud and Sunshine
Are you feeling cranky today, tired, unappreciated? Take a deep breath, look around, and find someone to serve. James M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan said, “Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”
Here are the words to a hymn by Lanta Wilson Smith, entitled Scatter Sunshine.
In a world where sorrow ever will be known,
Where are found the needy and the sad and lone,
How much joy and comfort you can all bestow,
If you scatter sunshine everywhere you go.
Slightest actions often meet the sorest needs,
For the world wants daily little kindly deeds.
Oh what care and sorrow you may help remove,
With your songs and courage, sympathy and love.
So, put on your sunscreen and go brighten your day by cheering someone else.
Are you feeling cranky today, tired, unappreciated? Take a deep breath, look around, and find someone to serve. James M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan said, “Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”
Here are the words to a hymn by Lanta Wilson Smith, entitled Scatter Sunshine.
In a world where sorrow ever will be known,
Where are found the needy and the sad and lone,
How much joy and comfort you can all bestow,
If you scatter sunshine everywhere you go.
Slightest actions often meet the sorest needs,
For the world wants daily little kindly deeds.
Oh what care and sorrow you may help remove,
With your songs and courage, sympathy and love.
So, put on your sunscreen and go brighten your day by cheering someone else.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Stops at the Service Station
Day 1**Salamanders and Sea Stars
I imagine that many of you are familiar with the story of the little boy and the sea stars. For those who are not, the premise is that this little boy is walking on an ocean beach and comes upon hundreds of stranded sea stars. Fearing for their lives, he begins to pick them up, and throw them back into the ocean. An older gentleman watches the little boy’s efforts and comments on the futility, suggesting that there are so many stranded sea stars that all his toil really doesn’t matter. The little boy ponders the gentleman’s words for a moment, and then throws another sea star into the water. “Well, it matters to that one,” he responds.
I was four years old when I had a similar experience. My saving efforts involved salamanders. My family lived in Placerville, California and we had a small creek next to our house. After a rain the salamanders would migrate out of the creek and settle onto the rural roadway where they would inevitably be squished by the neighborhood cars. It was traumatic for me, so I’d spend a good deal of my playtime picking up salamanders and throwing them back into the water. My two older sisters complained that it was gross and stupid and pleaded with my mom to make me stop. To her credit, she ignored them, and left me to my salamander saving.
The moral of these stories is that service need not be a huge deal to be significant. Edmund Burke, the eighteenth century Irish statesman and philosopher said, “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”
Perhaps today we can go out and do a little something. Save a sea star or a salamander, or lift one person who is sad.
I imagine that many of you are familiar with the story of the little boy and the sea stars. For those who are not, the premise is that this little boy is walking on an ocean beach and comes upon hundreds of stranded sea stars. Fearing for their lives, he begins to pick them up, and throw them back into the ocean. An older gentleman watches the little boy’s efforts and comments on the futility, suggesting that there are so many stranded sea stars that all his toil really doesn’t matter. The little boy ponders the gentleman’s words for a moment, and then throws another sea star into the water. “Well, it matters to that one,” he responds.
I was four years old when I had a similar experience. My saving efforts involved salamanders. My family lived in Placerville, California and we had a small creek next to our house. After a rain the salamanders would migrate out of the creek and settle onto the rural roadway where they would inevitably be squished by the neighborhood cars. It was traumatic for me, so I’d spend a good deal of my playtime picking up salamanders and throwing them back into the water. My two older sisters complained that it was gross and stupid and pleaded with my mom to make me stop. To her credit, she ignored them, and left me to my salamander saving.
The moral of these stories is that service need not be a huge deal to be significant. Edmund Burke, the eighteenth century Irish statesman and philosopher said, “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”
Perhaps today we can go out and do a little something. Save a sea star or a salamander, or lift one person who is sad.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Service Stations
How many of you remember ‘Service Stations’? Raise your hands. Well, I remember them well. They were places where you went to get fuel for your car, and the experience was very different from the one we have today. You didn’t jump out of your vehicle, swipe your credit card, and start pumping the gas yourself…oh, no. You would pull into the station, roll down your window, and wait for the young man to come up and ask what you needed. These champions of service were always dressed in spiffy uniforms, and they not only filled your car’s gas tank with fuel, but checked tire pressure and oil levels, and washed your windows. It was wonderful. As a woman, I always felt pampered. I like being pampered once in awhile. I like it when a man opens a door for me. It’s not that I can’t open a door for myself or pump my own petrol; it just takes away a tiny bit of the burden of having to slog through this world by myself. And, it connects me to someone else. I like that. It feels good to be served and to serve.
Today I’m talking about service for a reason. Beginning tomorrow, and continuing everyday for a month, I will offer anecdotes, quotes, and observations concerning service. I will, at times, be asking for your insight and input. This concentration on service will correspond with a blog tour that’s being done to promote my newest book, The Route; a novel based on my experiences delivering meals-on-wheels to a group of wondrous and wacky older folks, and the life changing lessons I learned from these encounters.
I’m looking forward to the month of daily blogs on service. I have titled the endeavor, Stops at the Service Station, and I hope you’ll join me.
Today I’m talking about service for a reason. Beginning tomorrow, and continuing everyday for a month, I will offer anecdotes, quotes, and observations concerning service. I will, at times, be asking for your insight and input. This concentration on service will correspond with a blog tour that’s being done to promote my newest book, The Route; a novel based on my experiences delivering meals-on-wheels to a group of wondrous and wacky older folks, and the life changing lessons I learned from these encounters.
I’m looking forward to the month of daily blogs on service. I have titled the endeavor, Stops at the Service Station, and I hope you’ll join me.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The Route
My book, The Route, is a fictionalized account of the years I spent delivering meals-on-wheels to a wonderful and wacky group of seniors. Sometimes the loaded food baskets were a bit heavy, many of the home situations were difficult, and some of the older folks were cranky, but
I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything. It taught me to value the lives of the seniors, and presented me with the opportunity to evaluate my own choices, and where I was headed on life's highway. It also taught me the great joy of service.
The Buddah instructed that to reach Nirvana (heaven) one had to become selfless and serve others. In fact, the word Nirvana means "the putting out of fire." The fire is the fire of selfishness.
It didn't seem possible that the simple act of dropping off a meal and chatting for five minutes at each stop would make a difference, but it did, especially in my life. The folks I served had made it through a myriad of life experiences and struggles, and most had come through with more resilience, compassion, and humility.
I grew to love Mary, with her down-to-earth sense of humor, Tom with his fascinating stories of growing up in China, and Bea with her quiet kindness. I even grew to love crusty ole Viola with her acerbic tongue and unreasonable demands. Service and love can accomplish amazing things.
I had a great time writing, The Route, because it gave me the opportunity to go back and remember all the wonderful characters and life changing lessons. It was also a way of saying thank you to the amazing older folks who let me share a part of their lives.
I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything. It taught me to value the lives of the seniors, and presented me with the opportunity to evaluate my own choices, and where I was headed on life's highway. It also taught me the great joy of service.
The Buddah instructed that to reach Nirvana (heaven) one had to become selfless and serve others. In fact, the word Nirvana means "the putting out of fire." The fire is the fire of selfishness.
It didn't seem possible that the simple act of dropping off a meal and chatting for five minutes at each stop would make a difference, but it did, especially in my life. The folks I served had made it through a myriad of life experiences and struggles, and most had come through with more resilience, compassion, and humility.
I grew to love Mary, with her down-to-earth sense of humor, Tom with his fascinating stories of growing up in China, and Bea with her quiet kindness. I even grew to love crusty ole Viola with her acerbic tongue and unreasonable demands. Service and love can accomplish amazing things.
I had a great time writing, The Route, because it gave me the opportunity to go back and remember all the wonderful characters and life changing lessons. It was also a way of saying thank you to the amazing older folks who let me share a part of their lives.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Heros
I’m sure most of us had to write that fifth grade English assignment to commit to paper the name and background of a person who’d caught our eleven-year-old attention, a person who was larger-than-life, a person who had qualities we admired.
It’s been so many years since 5th grade, I’m a bit fuzzy on the person I chose—it was my dad, my mom, Helen Keller, or Abraham Lincoln. I think it might have been Abraham Lincoln because I clearly remember how taken I was when Mrs. Panatoni (my 5th grade teacher) read us a book about Lincoln as a young man. I liked that Lincoln was a poor backwoods yokel, I liked that he was honest and hard working, and I really liked that he loved a good book and spent many hours reading by candlelight.
I myself spent many hours reading by sunlight, 60 watt bulb, or flashlight.
Through the written word, Lincoln’s world, wisdom, and sense of justice expanded. His soul was basically a good soul made more compassionate by the precious words he devoured as a young man. He would go on to study and practice law, serve as an Illinois state legislator, and eventually become the 16th President of the United States.
As we approach the 4th of July, I’m a bit sad that our political leaders seem to have lost the ideals of grace and grit that make up a great leader. Our country’s Founding Fathers were not perfect men, but they perfectly understood the principles upon which this great nation should be built: democracy, checks and balances, small federal government, and state’s rights. It is a system in which the innate desire for individual freedom has freest reign; a system to which oppressed people around the world have looked for a pattern.
How tragic if this great country loses the sense of itself as a beacon of freedom, if, because of complacency, the citizens of the United States of America forfeit their basic inalienable rights, and certainly tragic if our elected leaders delude themselves into thinking that they are above the desires of the majority.
As I celebrate my country on the 4th of July, I will recommit to voting, contacting my Senators and Representatives in the House on vital issues, attending town meetings and rallies, and reading books and literature that will keep me informed.
I’m reading a great book right now entitled, The 5000 Year Leap. I think my hero, Abraham Lincoln, would have liked it.
It’s been so many years since 5th grade, I’m a bit fuzzy on the person I chose—it was my dad, my mom, Helen Keller, or Abraham Lincoln. I think it might have been Abraham Lincoln because I clearly remember how taken I was when Mrs. Panatoni (my 5th grade teacher) read us a book about Lincoln as a young man. I liked that Lincoln was a poor backwoods yokel, I liked that he was honest and hard working, and I really liked that he loved a good book and spent many hours reading by candlelight.
I myself spent many hours reading by sunlight, 60 watt bulb, or flashlight.
Through the written word, Lincoln’s world, wisdom, and sense of justice expanded. His soul was basically a good soul made more compassionate by the precious words he devoured as a young man. He would go on to study and practice law, serve as an Illinois state legislator, and eventually become the 16th President of the United States.
As we approach the 4th of July, I’m a bit sad that our political leaders seem to have lost the ideals of grace and grit that make up a great leader. Our country’s Founding Fathers were not perfect men, but they perfectly understood the principles upon which this great nation should be built: democracy, checks and balances, small federal government, and state’s rights. It is a system in which the innate desire for individual freedom has freest reign; a system to which oppressed people around the world have looked for a pattern.
How tragic if this great country loses the sense of itself as a beacon of freedom, if, because of complacency, the citizens of the United States of America forfeit their basic inalienable rights, and certainly tragic if our elected leaders delude themselves into thinking that they are above the desires of the majority.
As I celebrate my country on the 4th of July, I will recommit to voting, contacting my Senators and Representatives in the House on vital issues, attending town meetings and rallies, and reading books and literature that will keep me informed.
I’m reading a great book right now entitled, The 5000 Year Leap. I think my hero, Abraham Lincoln, would have liked it.
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