It was a cold and very windy Saturday in suburban Washington, DC. My car was in the shop, and I was in a very nasty mood walking from the bus stop to my famous and historic church. I was in town for only one reason: I had agreed to help out with one of our best programs serving local, impoverished children.
I walked through the front part of the church yard, the wind blasting me from north to south. A woman of about 80 - just a wee bit older than me, and walking walking with a cane - was having a bit of trouble with the prevailing winds. I asked her if we could walk together into church, and held out my elbow . The wind blew us into the building as we discussed our different reasons for braving the cold and wind. Along the way, I passed a friend coming in for a different reason - she was going to make soups and stews for the local homeless shelter. She's a great cook, and she does this to unwind from the stress of the day job - serving as a district court judge.
I left the judge and the older parishioner, dashing upstairs to report for duty with the kids. They had too many volunteers; and trust me, I was f*cking annoyed that no one had called to say they didn't need my help. I was really looking forward to waiting in the cold for the bus home, and I'm sure the other passengers on that bus would have loved my company.
But as I walked out in my little snit, I stopped in the church kitchen. I saw the judge a bit overwhelmed by onions, carrots, potatoes and five boiling pots of stock. I grabbed a knife and started chopping. We caught up a bit. A couple other people stopped in to help cook, and we all laughed a bit about the cold and wind, exchanging stories about aging parents and college-age children.
It's easy to laugh about the cold when you are cooking, and protected from the wind in an old church with double-brick walls.
It's easy to help a weak, wealthy woman walk into a posh church.
It's a bit more difficult to work the serving line in the soup kitchen, but it becomes easier when you try to make everyone you serve feel like a neighbor in your home.
Charity in action is learned behavior; keep practicing. You don't have to be religious to make love of neighbor part of your soul.
Just do the right thing. Or I'm gonna tell your mamma.
Life without good works is meaningless. You are on your own about faith.