Paying it Forward

Trevor McKenney: I think some people are too scared, or something. I guess it's hard for people who are so used to things the way they are - even if they're bad - to change. 'Cause they kind of give up. And when they do, everybody kind of loses.

--From “Pay It Forward”

 

This January, I actively joined a group on campus called Pay It Forward (PIF). I joined for various reasons, but one, as lame as it sounds, was because I needed something to do.  Members of the group are encouraged to do good deeds around town or on the Shippensburg University campus, with the point of encouraging the one receiving the act of kindness to “Pay it Forward” and do a good deed to help someone else.  As their blog states:  “Pay It Forward [Ship U] is a movement that seeks to encourage the Shippensburg community [and beyond] to make acts of kindness an active part of daily life.”  As I went to regular meetings and actually went out and did acts of kindness, I could feel a shift in perspective.
 

I have always been a person that advocated for self-sufficiency and “the bootstraps theory,” but the more I helped others, and encouraged them to do the same, the more it became a lifestyle than just “something to do.”  I had not set out to really change the world, but I can see that extending a helping hand, or just randomly/anonymously paying for a strangers Starbucks drink or a meal can start a trend of joy and community.  Volunteering is another way that I was able to give back to the community that I have been part of for the last 8 years.  One of those places was the Shippensburg Produce and Outreach (SPO).  When I started to consistently do random acts of kindness, it became less random, I began to notice need around me, I wanted to passionately help others, then I shifted my perspective about making it a lifestyle, rather than something random.  I actively sought out opportunities to begin daily life with the aspiration to help others:  Bagging groceries for those in need, Encouraging others to environmental conscientiousness, Cleaning up around town, and Picking that random stranger to assist in whatever need was visible.

 

My experience at SPO has been beyond what I could have expected.  My first time I showed up, a month ago, I had no idea what to do; now I am the person that the people in charge ask advice from.  I was motivated by the hard work; now I am motivated to help the community of Shippensburg and those in need.  I was an able-bodied worker, now I am a willing servant.  I was a busy bee, now I am a consistent encourager of other group members.  I was an individual, now I am a member of the group.  I was exasperated, now I am affective.  I go every week with expectation of a challenge and putting joy into the hearts of those working with me, and then joy into the hearts of those who receive the bags of groceries/produce.  Some days the work is tedious and disgusting (e.g. rotting grapes or moldy strawberries), but it is helping to build a community that is based on reaching out to those in need.  The plan is for SPO to expand, but that does not happen without consistent volunteerism or willing workers.  My experience there has led me to want to inspire others, even those outside of my immediate community, to do the same (starting as soon as possible).
 

Soon summer will be starting, I would suggest trying the PIF lifestyle and proactive acts of kindness.  First find a copy of the movie “Pay It Forward” and watch it to gain a further understanding of this movement.  Then, find a place in your hometown to volunteer, once or twice a week.  Write inspirational messages and hand them out at work, or place encouraging posters on the post office or town hall bulletin board.  Clean up the weeds in the tree wells or gardens near your residence.  Just do something that will make your area of the world a better community.  Don’t complain that you have nothing to do, or that you work too hard, just figure out a way to improve your home and go out and do it. You will not only enrich our community, but you yourself will experience change in attitude and enhance your life.  If you do not feel like doing it alone, invite friends and colleagues, form a group at work that reaches out to develop a better community, create an initiative that encourages others to do the same, and have a blessed experience.  If you are in Shippensburg/Chambersburg Area, consider helping the SPO group on Tuesday afternoons (you can look up more info here: http://shipout.org/ or on Facebook) So, worry not about being bored this summer, or beyond, go out and make this world a better place; it may just lead to a change in perspective for you.

 



The Beginning of New Ends...

I know how to live up to expectations, I do not really know how to be who God means for me to be.




At least that is what I discovered over this past month and a half since I have last posted words in this blogosphere. I have protected/hidden my true vivaciousness and attitude behind the veil of traditions and expectations; allowing those things to define me rather than my obedience to the will of God. I am not really as I have appeared to be in the past, but I have let my head control my heart. I believe what I believe because "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it for me." However, I often took it a step further and wanted everyone else to believe and follow the same things.  While I wanted individualism for myself, I did not really want others to be free to make moral decisions. It is obviously necessary to have morals, but forcing them no longer works for modernity.   It has been said that I live in the 1950s or should have been born then because of the way that I live.  But since I used my head more often, reasoning and logic often got in the way of spiritual growth.

This past Thursday night/Friday morning I realized how my desire to be independent in my life (so that I could live up to God's rules and regulations), put me into a box and had build a defense around my true identity as a person.  I chatted with one of the campus ministers who offered a different perspective.  She said that my reverence for God (the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit) has blocked me from forming into a Christian that loves both God and others better than myself.  While that was hard to process, at first, the conversation proved that she was right.  She pointed out (very directly/bluntly) that I had a problem with manipulation and control, and that I must needs give up that focus if I am to grow to Fully Rely On God. If I am to truly live by the standard of "What Would Jesus Do?" and place complete trust in my maker, then I must totally had the Holy Spirit the keys to my house:  every room, every closet, and ever door that uses a skeleton key.  (It if for God to judge others at the end of times, and not my job to do it now.)  I must share this and warn others like myself, to be wary of total manipulation.

One thing she said that really struck me, almost in a blindsiding fashion, is that I must stop trying to control the ends.  As much as we desire something to happen and something to come true...we must use the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who speaks to each one of us through the Bible and most effectively through prayer.  This interaction does not take place if we are complacent or lazy in our relationship with Christ; no relationship is successful without constant positive communication.  Resolving to maintain this consistency in deeper growth ignites a fire within the belly and spurs Christians toward the goal that God has for them. It will improve and be inflamed with greater passion to serve others, to Pay it Forward, and to change for real.  As the Holy Spirit guides and comforts, direction will come on God's timing.  This chronology may not be within our control, but it only happens at the proper time, and no sooner:  precisely when necessary and not a moment too soon. While perhaps waiting/patience is the hardest part, relying on God's timing removes our need to worry and will certainly pay off.  He will be there to guide and add faith and confidence as we entrust our lives to his full control.  However, passively abiding whilst God is preparing the way for you does not always work.  We must have a proper attitude and allow God to show us the way, and when we hear him we must follow.  Even if it means stepping far out of our comfort zones.



Something I would do, to protect myself from the outside world, is to ignore anything that would not fit my reality in Christ or to label it as false/unrighteous.  While striving for excellence, achievement and truth are wonderful things, they do not lead to perfection in Christ.  Rather what makes perfection in Christ are our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). I know that I would show strength, both false and real, to maintain control and to avoid failure.  I have coasted through life, because I never had to try:  well I didn't really attempt doing anything "risky."  Rather I would make sure the situation would benefit my success before I choose to pursue it.  Doing that had been highly successful, at least I had thought so.  In reality it pushed people away, it made them regard me as "holier than thou.." even though that was not my intention at all.  I did not rely on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, rather I relied on my knowledge of Scripture to control the ends:  I got into grad school, I got a job, I avoided failure, I was a success. I followed all of the principles of the holy writ.  I felt like a humble servant of God, and while I did obey his commands to show I love him, but that was a misinterpretation of John 14:23-24.  I need to love God and he will give me the commands to obey/the direction to go.  He will guide my steps and push me toward the success he has planned for me (Joshua 1--see "be strong and courageous").  I must simply trust and follow, without blind obligation, with an ear to Heaven and an eye on the Scripture.  Openness and Brokenness will lead to the completion of the goals/resolutions that I set out for myself at the beginning of this calendar year.  Christ will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear and will provide a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13), so why should I not trust a God that cares for me that way.

For that reason and many others, it is time to cease the manipulation of the ends.  Rather than revealing my goals to God, and expecting Him to fulfill my plans, I must ask God to show me where to step as he leads me in the path of righteousness.   It is not for me, or you, to tell Him how to do anything, when he is in control the ends are not justified by the means, and the means are not justified by the ends.  Instead, everything that is done is just, right, and through love.  He will allow trials and tribulations, but we will not fail unless we do not trust him.  We are not Superman, nothing is truly possible on our own.  In Sunday School, we have been learning about Genesis and the Creation of the world. There God said it was not good for man to be alone (Chapter 2), and he meant it.  In Philippians, Paul shared that we can do all things through Christ (4:13).  God created everything perfectly, but when sin entered the world everything got messed up and he prepared to send Christ.  That story of Preparation is the entire Old Testament and God guided the Israelites, If he can direct an entire population, He surely knows how to inspire one person and lead them in the way that he should go.  He knows how to bring success, and because he created us for a purpose it is only right that we fulfill that purpose.  It is not good to put the omniscient, omnipotent God in a box, by limiting ourselves to a certain set of parameters.  With the right attitude, we have freedom in Christ.

It is time to live in a way that allows God to mold me into what I should be.