A Reflection on Service

I am optimistic about the future.  That being said, I often feel helpless or paralyzed as I think of the broken systems that exist in our world.  When I find myself stuck, I catch a glimpse of hope in the people and the good work going on around me, restoring my faith in humanity.  This blog post is prompted by several conversations that I have had with people this week: through a spontaneous conversation at midnight with my housemates while sipping tea on the floor of our kitchen… at my LVC mid-year review, reflecting on my experience as a year-long volunteer…and with a special volunteer, Anna, from Open Arms.

When I think about my decision to join the Lutheran Volunteer Corps last spring, I heard many different responses from people.  Some thought it was great that I was “giving back” to my community, or even that I had a lot to share with the people I would be serving.  Others joked that volunteer organizations like LVC or Americorps are something that people do when they can’t get a job or as a way to postpone entering the “real world.” A few friends were very excited to know that I would be more actively engaged in anti-oppression work, critically analyzing the systems that classify individuals into boxes, ultimately creating systems of oppression.  Even my own definition and understanding of what it means to be a ‘volunteer’ has changed quite a bit in the past couple of years, but especially over the course of my time in here in Minneapolis.  If anything, I have learned that service work is incredibly complex.

Many of us grew up very privileged and were socialized to understand volunteering as a good thing to do, because we were given so much, while others had nothing.  In many ways this is true, however it has the potential to create a power dynamic within service work that is not healthy for our communities. We start to do things for others that they can do for themselves, a concept called paternalism.  This comes in many forms—in knowledge, spirituality, resources, labor, etc.  We may begin to feel superior to others and start to ‘help’ in ways that we think is best.  Especially when it comes to poverty alleviation, we need to avoid paternalism at all costs.  The goal should really be to walk with people so they become better stewards of their own lives, communities and material needs. My friend John mailed me a book this year called “When Helping Hurts” after I visited the Kyle family this summer. This book addresses poverty alleviation work within our own communities here in the US, as well as in the form of mission work in developing countries overseas.  I recommend reading it.  It is now interesting to look back on the service projects and mission trips I participated in while I was growing up, but I now see that I really did not understand the complexity of the work that I was a part of.  Hours of conversation shared with different friends throughout my college years helped me to grow and understand what social justice really means for our world.  Social justice work is about making sure that all people regardless of race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, and ability are treated with dignity and respect, and granted equal access to basic human rights. In fact, as I heard this quote by Lila Watson for the first time, I realized that this thinking is the way to strive towards justice in our world: “If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” I cannot live freely when others cannot live freely.  Part of my year with LVC includes trainings on racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, etc.  Each of these “isms” create a hierarchy of privilege that continue to divide humankind.  White versus black. Rich versus poor.  Straight versus gay.  When these barriers of power and prejudice exist, it is impossible for our world to live in true unity.  In fact at the core, I think that when one group is oppressed, it dehumanizes us all, whether we realize it or not.  Recognizing that our liberation is bound up with others helps to provide a framework for breaking down these barriers.

I know that many view faith and social justice work as separate, but I have grown to see them as one in the same.  I now make sense of how I want to live out my faith through a social justice lens, particularly in how I interact with members of my community that are different from me.  Having grown up in the Christian tradition, I can only speak from my own faith and experiences.  As a Lutheran, I believe that God’s grace is so expansive, that I can live in that promise and step outside my comfort zone to live a little more boldly—to participate in creating heaven on earth, a kingdom where all people live together in unity for God.  This heaven on earth is only possible when we live in equality.  Going back to the book, “When Helping Hurts,” the author argues that humans are designed to engage in four types of foundational relationships: our relationship with God, self, others, and the rest of creation.  When each of these relationships are in balance with each other, we are able to experience the fullness of life that God created us for, fulfilling our calling in life. Oppression exists when these relationships are out of balance or non-existent.  It goes back to my point that when people are oppressed, we as God’s children cannot fully experience the life that God intended for us to live, making it more and more impossible to create His heaven on earth.

So how do we do good for others to create this kingdom? Altruism is a concept that I first remember learning about in AP Biology, a behavior expressed in certain species in the animal kingdom, particularly in mammals.  Altruism at the core is the concern for the welfare of others, doing something to benefit another.  We see it in animals as messengers bring back food to other members of the community or when some individuals will fight off predators who are attacking one of their kind.  Many studies in neurobiology have shown that altruistic behaviors in humans (charitable giving, sacrificing time, etc) activate the same neural circuit that is found in social attachment or bonding among individuals.  It’s part of our basic biology to look out for other humans--it unifies us into community.  Altruism manifests itself in many religious traditions including Christianity, as it is central to the teachings of Jesus that we read in the New Testament: ‘To love your neighbor as yourself,’ or if I might push it further, ‘love your neighbor more than yourself.’  Love is God’s greatest command and it takes many forms.  This year I have spent a lot of my time thinking about this love and how it is lived out in communities in need.

So, I decided to spend a year as a member of the Lutheran Volunteer Corps—what will this mean for me in the long run?  As I look back on my experience so far this year, my understanding of service becomes more and more complex.  On the most basic level, my motivation stems from a desire to live out Jesus’ command to love your neighbor as yourself.  Beyond my placement at Open Arms, I find that this command manifests itself in all areas of my life, especially in the day-to-day interactions I have with people in my community.  The definition of “love your neighbor” has also become more complex in my mind this year.  I continue to struggle with knowing when to help and when that help is actually helpful.  I am finding that I have to take a step back to just listen and learn from people. In that space, we can learn to work together to create a world that is better for us all.  Now I am by no means an expert on this topic, but it has been on my mind all year.  In fact, I think I myself am just barely beginning to understand what this means for me.  I read this quote yesterday: “I do not understand the mysteries of grace—only that it meets us where we are, but does not leave us where it found us.”  I believe that God’s grace is so large that we are free to do the hard work of striving to create heaven on earth.  I don’t know where this will lead me, but I know this grace will free me to live a life more rich and meaningful than one I ever imagined.  I am inspired every day by the people around me who are pouring so much into each relationship and activity of which they are a part. It is this love and devotion that restores my hope in the future of humanity in our world.  That makes me optimistic for the future.