The Scripture ~ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:16

The Spiritual Focus ~ “We are all just walking each other home.” Ram Dass

The Devotion
Volunteerism, like friendship and attending, is an important step on the path to a healthy lifestyle. Volunteering at church, the local food shelf or your grandchild’s or child’s school are all very worthy endeavors and much appreciated. Volunteering is healing for those served and you, but wonder if these forms of volunteering are also a stepping stone on a path to a greater calling? Wonder if the true healing and healthy lifestyle we are called to, is to expand our volunteering into a life of serving regularly and without reserve?
The scripture from Matthew comes from a story about someone who thinks they are due more than someone else because they have worked harder. The story points out many things but one thing it points to is that there is not a “more” in God’s eye’s, there is an “all.” Ram Dass’s quote brings to mind a painting of a Mother Teresa figure, skipping on the path to heaven with young and still young, walkers and wheelchairs, sighted and blind but she is last, the shepherdess of all, putting other’s first because that is how we walk each other home.
Remember for a moment the images from any number of marathon’s that we have seen in the news. Do you remember who won? Or do you remember the picture of a runner help-ing an injured runner cross the finish line, the picture of the dad pushing his son in a wheelchair, a picture of a marathoner carrying an exhausted race participant to finish the race. The warmth and affirmation of those pictures speak to the vision of what it means to serve with out reservation, a vision of all of us crossing the finish line together. The prac-tice of serving is walking each other home into the healing light and love of God.
Breath Prayer ~ I Am Walking With