Volunteering or Calling

An article came across my desk back in 2001. It offered a few examples of volunteering. The stories may well point to something deeper.

James is 13 years old. He lives in New York City. His family has gone through hard times. His father lost his job as a butcher when the owner of the shop suddenly died. They were evicted from their apartment. His parents split up, and James and his brother have lived with their mother in two different shelters.

Nevertheless, James is one of the lucky ones. He has a friend, a mentor, who has been with him for six years now.

Her name is Sara Mosle, who describes herself as a "volunteer." She taught in the New York City public schools for three years and since then has volunteered as a mentor to some of her former students. At times, the group has been as large as 12 kids. A few were Dominicans, the rest were black. She is 36, and white.

She has introduced these youngsters to words and experiences like chopsticks, Avery Fisher Hall, the Staten Island Ferry, Mexican food and Duke Ellington.

She is the kind of person the federal government has in mind when it urges the private sector to assume some of the traditional services of the state. Sara knows the political lingo, such as "A thousand points of light," "charitable choice" and "compassionate conservatism." She understands Colin Powell's powerful endorsement of volunteerism. Therefore, when the government called, Sara answered.

These two stories are not just a matter of volunteering because one feels guilty if one does not. They recognize that for many people, that for which they volunteer comes out of a sense of calling. The people with whom we have interacted, the circumstances of life that have challenged us, the need that we have sensed in the world, become the occasion to hear a calling. In that sense, it was not just a matter of listening to what is “inside” us. Rather, we need to listen to what is “outside” us.

Time is finite for all of us. Listening to such a call and responding with Yes builds the virtues to which we would like people to testify at our funeral, in the manner that David Brooks (The Road to Character, 2015) writes. These virtues point the way to deep satisfaction of having lived our lives.

Maybe, instead of wondering what will make us happy, we need to ponder a different question. Are we responding to a summons?