Gateway center

Every semester the graduate school puts on a service day. Several groups go and serve at different locations and then come back and have lunch together. I signed up with some of my classmates to serve at a local homeless shelter. It was a good experience. The shelter provides a good variety of from housing, bathrooms, and showers, to medical care, addition recover programs, and employment training. We were volunteering at the same time as an elementary school group; the volunteer coordinator did a good job of talking about homelessness and the challenges that these people face at the level that the children could understand and appreciate. One of the things that I really liked in her discussion was her application of Matt 25:40 "whatsoever ye have done unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me." Usually we think of this scripture in terms of needing to love and care for those around us and that is the primary application. She extended it to the idea that if we really saw Christ or the divine we would probably want to learn something from him and would see some wisdom. Her point was that as we approach people in trying circumstances as if they have something precious to offer we show faith in their potential and can learn important lessons ourselves. I hadn't talked with this many homeless people since my mission. Just like then I found them friendly and open. They were overwhelmingly positive about the future and overcoming the challenges they were facing. They were very appreciative of the people who were trying to help them. It's good to have opportunities to serve and be reminded both of what is most important in life and how grateful I am for my many opportunities and for my support network that has brought me safely thus far.