Part II Day 8: February 17, 2010 (you can have this Lent in my pocket)

Position: Volunteer

Days Officially Unemployed: 34

I've decided to stay in San Diego for now rather than run back to my hometown of Fresno. While I was in Fresno, I attended a Greek Orthodox church service with my mother, and the priest spoke about Lent (which begins today), the need for personal sacrifice, and the importance of helping others. He quoted Matthew 25:31-45, where Jesus sits on his throne of glory judging all the people, separating the sheep from the goats. He tells the sheep people, who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me." The sheep people, who had never encountered Jesus before, asked him when they did all of this, and he responds, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."

The Greek Orthodox priest then encouraged members of his flock to volunteer during Lent, to help those in need, as well as making self-sacrifices (I decided to give up alcohol for forty days and am fasting until sunset today). I only tell you this because the establishment I contacted yesterday, here in San Diego, to begin volunteering this week, called me back today to say they needed an advance notice of at least a week if I want to volunteer. They also said that on the weekends they have so many individuals and groups volunteering, that they book them a year in advance. A year!

With all these people wanting to help the poor, it begs the questions: why are there still so many poor people? And why do people want to help them?

I think the first question can be answered by a quotation from Joseph Campbell's collaborative book, The Power of Myth, where he says, "People ask me, 'Do you have optimism about the world?' And I say, 'Yes, it's great just the way it is. And you are not going to fix it up. Nobody has ever made it any better. It is never going to be any better. This is it, so take it or leave it. You are not going to correct or improve it.'" It's the same response William T. Vollmann received in his book, Poor People, quoted in an earlier post, when he asked, "Why are you poor?" and one woman echoes many when she says, "Just destiny."

Sure, war and poverty are part of the human experience, but I think you can work in your town, your job, your neighborhood, and your family to make things a little better, right? 

As for the second question, I always assumed it arises for many people from what I would call Christian longing to be a sheep rather than a goat, to enter the kingdom in the afterlife rather than hell. In other words, out of self-preservation rather than a basic longing to do the humane, or right, thing. But I'm sure people's reasons are as varied as the religions of the world, so I will be posing that question to my co-volunteers at the San Diego Center for the Poor (name changed to protect privacy).