[B]y love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Galatians 5:12-13
Our Sacrament Meeting theme last week was on service. The Primary President spoke about how her summer enrichment with her kids has been setting a goal to serve others every day. She spoke about how opportunities appeared as they sought them, describing with amusement the giggles of her children as they concocted a plan to stealthily pay for the car behind them in a fast food drive-through.
The high counselor then related an old Clay Christensen story, where Clay had discovered one summer day that an elderly woman in his ward had an ancient iron fridge in her basement filled with rotting food. So Clay, as a good home teacher, took it upon himself to dispose of the fridge – and invited a neighbor to help. As they’re dying in the heat, halfway up the stairs, the neighbor asks, “Clay, could you tell me a little bit about the Mormon Church?” And Clay said, “Don, frankly, this is the Mormon Church, right here.”
The next night I was reading Tracy McKay’s new book, where she describes the youth of her ward voluntarily cancelling a ski trip, just so they could show up at dawn and help pack up her house that was getting foreclosed on after her divorce.
And then — I’ve had one of those infamous 80-hour work weeks. On Tuesday, I worked on my home computer until 2 in the morning on a project. The next morning I left to travel to a meeting in New York. And as I logged on to my work computer, I realized that in my exhausted haze I hadn’t transferred over my work from the night before. The deadline was in a couple of hours, I was heading out of town, and I had no access to my files.
I panicked. Then I immediately texted my visiting teacher. Who was leaving on an errand with her kids before she also headed out of town. Her day was insane enough, but without hesitating, she swung by my house, snuck in through the garage, bounded up my stairs, climbed over my dirty laundry pile in the middle of my upstairs hallway (I had meant to start a load), logged onto my computer, dragged the file over to my email, and clicked “send.”
The literal laundry pile my visiting teacher cheerfully did not judge me for.
It was a 10-minute errand for her, but it meant the world to me. This teeny moment, alongside everything else from the week, made me reflect: the fact that I live in a community where we can all ask for favors on a minute’s notice and everyone treats it as ordinary and jumps to help – it’s awe-inspiring. And inspiring me to serve those around me more.
In this great big messy world we live in, we all need help, and we all need to help each other. Service is beauty. Service is truth. Service is the gospel of Jesus Christ. From stealth purchases to rotten refrigerators to emailed files, this is why I love being a Mormon.
Go forth and serve.