Serving Proactively

My godson recently posted this reflection on his blog: Seeking for More.  He notes for instance that:

[R]outines and the sticking to the status quo can also have drawbacks.  In our life as Christians, we might be able to do more.  Maybe we could be doing more to help the poor and the sick, or it could be as simple as maybe needing to be there more for a friend or family member who is need of advice or in need of our love and support…[P]arishes always need help from their parishoners to help keep things running, whether it be helping by sitting on the parish council, cooking food for Trapeza, or cleaning.  We should always be looking for more, each according to their abilities.  How many of us are eager to look for more when it comes to increasing our financial status, or look for more in regards to advancing in our careers?  We should be even more eager to pursue more in regards to our spiritual lives and in regards to our life in the Church.

Orthodox Christian spiritual writings caution us against pride and presumption, and we should not ever try to do spiritual things for our own glory, or without prayer and first consulting our priest/spiritual father.  However, we must not go to the other extreme and become inert, never acting to progress, never feeling empowered to step up, or worse, never noticing the things around us that need to be done because of too much of an inward focus.

Let’s be clear: the floors at Church need swept, the chanter needs someone else to step up and help him, the priest needs more altar servers, and the person in charge of coordinating a charitable event needs someone to relieve him or her when they become overburdened.

You’re reading this because you are the person God is calling to help. Whatever you are thinking right now that you could be doing to help at your Church is probably what you should go and volunteer to do next Sunday!