Importance of Service

I'm graduating in three weeks. That's fun and exciting. And terrifying. The most exciting thing about these next three weeks is the opportunity to reflect and remember some incredible things that have happened on this campus. More than that, I can look at how much I've changed, and boy have I changed.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: one of the fastest ways to grow - to change - is to put yourself in an environment that's uncomfortable. All of college has been uncomfortable. Service has been uncomfortable. Volunteering in the Dominican Republic with a bunch of people I barely knew was unfomfortable. Striking up conversations with those on parole that I was building a house with was uncomfortable. Refusing to shop somewhere because you know how unjust it is is uncomfortable. But I've grown so much because of these opportunities.

I've built relationships, seen through other people's eyes, and gained a greater understanding and appreciation for the world around me. I talked in my last entry about how although service is hard, I have found a place in this mess called humanity and have found a way to make it a little brighter. I still stand by that. Service is hard, and it's uncomfortable, but I've grown so much becuase of it.

I still remember some of those experiences from so long ago. I remember working with a few college students in setting up lights for a local high school production of The Little Mermaid. I remember those many days with RLC at Habitat for Humanity. I remember so many of the connections and conversations I have made from volunteering in Holy Grounds. So much of this has stuck with me, and always will. Service is as much a part of me now as breathing.

So there's no way I'm planning on graduating and forgetting everything I've learned. No, service will always be an important piece of my heartbeat. I don't know what it will look like, but I'm excited to see what opportunities I find to help others. Already, I have the opportunity to serve as a translator in Guatemala this summer with the First United Methodist Church. I couldn't be more excited, and more grateful to the Wesley Service Scholar program for giving me the growth I needed to get me to this point.

I can't wait to see where life takes us next.

As always, best of luck in the real world and God bless,

~XTopher

Service is Hard

Journal Entry for Service Scholarship - February 12, 2018

Doing service is hard. Not just because it takes up time, and I don’t have a lot of that to spare as I job search and look toward what happens after graduation. No, service is hard because of how it affects those doing service. On the surface level, volunteering is pretty shallow. It lets a group of people feel pretty good about helping their fellow human. It’s a good feeling: you feel good; you feel like you’re doing good. Too often, though, service stops there. We travel to a foreign country and take selfies with starving orphans as we sing to them and play soccer – only to leave them wondering why everyone keeps leaving. We hand out food at a soup kitchen or a shelter, but we don’t stop to ask why these people are hungry let alone what we could do to help.

Once we move past that barricade, though, service takes on a whole new identity. We become invested in the lives of the people we serve. Relationships are built along with the houses. We take time to hear stories and provide people that basic need: human connection. We move past service for our sakes and begin to take up their cross so that they can be freed from it for a little while. Volunteering at this level is hard. This is suffering and sacrificing even if only for a moment. We may never get the chance to experience life through the eyes of someone we serve; we may never have to go through that. But for a brief second, we give up our time, that feeling of “goodness”, our comfort, clean clothes, dry shoes, all so that another can bear them.

This kind of service reminds me a lot of a speech I did in high school: The Ragman. The poetic prose is a telling of the life of Jesus as a metaphor. In this story, Jesus is “The Ragman” who gives people his own clothes and takes theirs. By doing so, he gains whatever ailment they have (a missing arm, starvation, etc.) so they can have his strength. I feel like service is something similar. It asks us to take off our rags and give them to someone new. However, this isn’t the reason I said "service is hard."

Service is hard because it inspires me to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly – three tasks that are not easily done. It drives me to want to help everyone who is hurting. The hard part is that there is no way I can live in such a way that reduces my carbon footprint, doesn’t encourage slavery, gives back to the poor and needy, and refuses to allow corruption. It’s just not possible. So, the hard part of service, is that I’m left feeling like I will never do enough. I’m guilty for all of the things that I can’t do, and the humility refuses to take pride in the ways I do help.

It’s hard, but it’s necessary. And fortunately, when I’ve reached this point of service – past the shallow, and past the surface, I find joy in what I do again. I sacrificed that feeling of “goodness”. I sacrificed comfort, and hot meals, and dry shoes, and so many photos, but what I gained is immeasurably better. I found a home in this mess called humanity, and I found a way to make it a little brighter.

“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.”

-          Philippians 3:8

Good luck in the real world, and God Bless,
~XTopher

#Below750

So this last week I was challenged to live off of the same budget that people in poverty live off of all around the world. So, for five days, I lived off of $7.50 - that's $1.50 a day. This was part of an awesome project to raise awareness of the conditions of poverty that so many people live in. So, what I did was I went to Wal*Mart and bought bread, peanut-butter, corn, black beans, eggs, and Ramen. My total came out to just below 7.50 and then that's what I had to eat for the week. Then, each night I posted some videos that were kind of a reflection over what I had learned that day. Here's a summary of those reflections:

• Rationing food is really difficult when you're hungry. You see more food. You want to eats the food. But you cannot eats the food, because then you would have no foods to eat on another day. This made Christopher Sad.
• Eating enough is also hard. So, you don't want to eats too much foods because you wants to eats tomorrows. But, if you don'ts eat enoughs today, you will be hungry and tired.
• I'm a student, so I'm not SUPER active, but people who live in poverty often are exerting a whole lot more energy throughout their days and are eating the same amount of food.
• Nutrition goes out the window. In America, we're so concerned with making sure we eat enough nutrients and don't eat too many fats and cholesterol, etc. But, when I was living off of only $7.50, I was paying more attention to which items fill me up and give me more calories than I was with what nutrients or vitamins I received. 
• We don't really pay attention to the amount that we're spending. Before I began the journey, I went to Burger King and got a burger for $7.99. That one meal cost more than what I had to live off of for the next 5 days! 
• Obviously this isn't EVERYONE in America, but isn't it interesting the difference in prices for one meal vs. one week?
• We're picky. I was walking through wal*mart shopping for my week, and I overheard a middle-aged couple arguing over which organic pita bread brand to buy. Meanwhile, I'm just looking for the cheapest items. 
• Authors note: I have absolutely nothing against organic pita bread or the people that buy it. I'm actually a solid supporter for organic farming. However, this really put things into perspective for me. We in America have the luxury of being able to be picky while many people aren't afforded any such privilege.

So, that's some of what I learned through this experience. Honestly, it was really tough, but I'm super glad that I did it! It was such an eye-opening experience and it was a fantastic way to reset my perspective of myself and of others. I encourage you guys to check it out. Just follow the hashtag #SCBelow750 on Facebook or check out Simpson College Spanish Awareness: Living Below $7.50!

Best of luck in the real world and God Bless,

-Christopher Hanson