Regional
(2009-11-19)
Listen Now:
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November 2009
"In 1987, my wife, my 1-year-old son and I traveled to Zambia, in Sub-Saharan Africa. For three years, we lived and worked there as Catholic missionaries. I ran a food distribution center, a nutrition education program for village moms, a fisheries project and a poultry project.
During our time there, I saw with my own eyes genuine abject poverty. I assisted malnourished and severely undernourished children. I witnessed the early ravages of AIDS, the prevalence of malaria, TB and any number of tropical diseases still prominent there. I met lepers and the lame, scores and scores of people whose infirmity did not exist in other parts of the world.
It was not all death, disease and struggle, but the Western Province of Zambia provided a mighty contrast with my American home.
And yet, 20 years later, when I reflect on that experience, what I think about most is how graceful the Zambians were. Grace in the midst of despair. It was evident in every part of their culture, from how they greeted one another in the morning, to how they reacted to the news that there would be no flour or maize meal that day. In the vortex of the most difficult circumstances, they were both beautiful and proud.
I also recall how the Zambians gleaned hope from the smallest bit of evidence that things might improve. In the middle of a several-year drought, the first rain of the season brought hope that their driest years were behind them. A new hammer mill in town brought with it the promise of the end of food shortages, and on and on. They were not unaware of their struggle. They simply believed that a better day would dawn for them. I became infected with their sense of hope.
So what do I tell people about Zambia? I tell them that I went to serve the Zambians, but it was they who served me. I went to teach, and I became the student. I went to give, and it was I who received the greater gift - the lessons of grace and hope.
If you are searching for meaning in your life, serve others. Move out of your comfort zone. Dedicate some part of your life to the service of others. It can be in a faraway land, but it doesn't have to be. There are untold opportunities right here in America. In America, our public discourse is increasingly uncivil, marked by naked self-interest and petty diatribes. I am confident that much of this would fall by the wayside if we re-commit ourselves to service of others, whether full time or in our spare time, in the public sphere or the private sector, in our charitable giving - wherever we choose.
In genuine service to others, we truly become part of something bigger than ourselves. We become selfless. Our lives take on new meaning. We are made healthy and whole in our soul place, that intimate place deepest inside of us.
This I believe."
© Copyright 2012, KUNC
