"Jesus in Disguise"

I cannot think of anyone else besides Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta who represents the spirit of service. Mother Teresa spent her life serving the poor, sick, and dying, even putting herself in danger of contracting the same diseases. She was accredited with picking men and women up off of the streets and carrying them to the hospital she founded with the other sisters in her community. When asked why she cared for every sick and dying person she could find, she replied "everyone of them is Jesus in disguise." What we sometimes fail to realize is that all human beings are made in Christ's image, even the repulsing homeless bum laying in the rain gutter.

Mother Teresa's daily actions should be an example to us as Americans. Here we are, living in the land of opportunity. Why is it that the richest country in the world has such a high unemployment rate? Shouldn't we be able to sacrifice some of our time and money to lend a hand to those in need? Working with the homeless has changed my outlook on the impoverished masses here in America; it has shown me how much I have to be thankful for and how many opportunities I have been granted to give back to the community.

Living Life

Let's be honest. When people think of living their lives to the fullest, community service doesn't usually come to mind. But in remembering that we as Christians are called to live Christic lives, and that Christ spent his entire ministry serving and living with the poor, we should realize that serving the fellow human beings that Jesus died to save is one of the greatest ways we can live our lives as they are called to be. What people don't always realize is that community service is full of benefits and rewards. As Christians, we believe that our material posessions will remain here on Earth, while we will be judged based on our actions. Doing community service without expecting or wanting physical compensation is one of the most rewarding feelings ever.

Community service is healthy for our dignity. By that I mean it helps us to realize what dignity means and that we are just as deserving of our dignity as the homeless beggar. People see you working to provide these fellow brothers and sisters with a warm and healthy meal, and their respect for you is increased. By showing your love for all of God's children, you show that you are giving thanks to God for His gift to you of dignity.

Working for the Common Good

Every night, millions of men, women, and children around the world go to sleep without eating. Our group along with many other homeless shelters and soup kitchens see to it that this number is significantly decreased. It's not easy work; the food has to be purchased, transported, and prepared all before 5 o'clock. This doesn't leave too much time when you are leaving the school grounds around 3 o'clock. It's a big commitment, yet we come through with it every week. Why do we do this? The answer is simple: to help the common good. We don't get any physical compensation or any material reward, but knowing that anywhere between 80 and 120 people have had a satisfying meal when they otherwise would not have keeps us going each week.

I'm not trying to be nasty, but working with homeless people isn't easy. The hardest thing to get over is the smell. You can imagine the shock of walking past someone who probably can't remember when his or her last shower was; it hits you like a brick wall. At first I couldn't stand it. Often times I felt as if I was about to throw up every meal I had eaten. It took me a while, but I was able to get used to it. It wasn't their decision to not bathe; they were never given the choice. I realized I had to look past the grime and dirt and see the human being that deserves my respect. Now, that doesn't mean I embraced everyone and took a deep breath whenever I walked past them; I just ignored the smell and what they looked like, basically all of the physical elements of their nature that made me want to avoid them. This one new outlook that I discovered was easily applicable in every aspect of my life. Every school community has the weird kids, the gross kids, as well as the popular kids who turn their noses up at everyone. The important thing is, like I mentioned earlier, to look past these characteristics and realize that therein lies a human being that needs and wants your respect. After all, how can we progress as a loving community if we cannot first progress past our own differences?

The Concept of Human Dignity

So what is human dignity? Some people would say it is the basic rights that all humans are granted by God. I would go even further to say it is the right that everyone has to be respected and loved as a fellow human being, no matter what their story is. So many different people come into the soup kitchen where i do my service: mentally handicapped men and women, war veterans, drug addicts, and prostitutes. The worst is all of the people who were raised on the streets and never had a choice to not be homeless. Yes, almost every race and demographic is represented in some way, but we are all united by at least one thing: human dignity. I met a native American man who came to Baltimore from Omaha, Nebraska. He had a job, but he relied on the supper club for food because of his monthly child support checks to the mother of his bastard child back home in Omaha. I don't know what this man saw in me, but whatever it was, he wanted to tell me his story and have a conversation with me. During that conversation, i knew I wasn't looking at a poor man from Nebraska; I was talking to a human being as deserving of my respect as I was of his.

This kind of stuff happens all the time at the Supper Club. The other volunteers there have conversations of their own with the drifters, and occasionally you see a friendship develop between a regular and one of the employees. You can just tell by the look on their faces that they are truly happy to see each other and they pay attention and want to hear what the other has to say. Most of the time, these conversations are started with a simple "Hey, how're you doin tonight?" or "You enjoying your meal?" I myself have a friendship in its early stages with a fellow music lover named Bill (odds are we would have the same name). We sit down and talk about different composers and famous show tunes while he eats his meal, occasionally stopping while I go to wipe down a table and set it up for the next guests. This is the kind of stuff that breaks the breaks the class barrier and brings us all one step closer to God.