21Jun
I enjoy volunteering, and since I started in the kitchen, it has always been a good experience. So, combined with my personal belief that service is an extension of love, I feel like I fell on the right path and am simply continuing on it.
how did you discern god's will?
I see my volunteer work as a personal and spiritual extension of Jesus’s love. I believe that in order to continue the work of God, you must act as He intended towards your fellow human beings. Knowing that the work I did was helping others was enough for me to realize that this was a calling for me to continue these activities. God’s will comes in many different forms, and sometimes to me, it is hard to understand what He would want me to do. I enjoy volunteering, and since I started in the kitchen, it has always been a good experience. So, combined with my personal belief that service is an extension of love, I feel like I fell on the right path and am simply continuing on it.
was there a moment or sign when you knew the voice of god was present?
I have felt the presence of God and God’s voice on several occasions during my duties in the kitchen and outside of that. To see an unhoused neighbor fed and happy and to see a person with physical impairment's life become so much easier through the Ramp Build are feelings of meaning and gratification. I feel those are the physical embodiments of God approving of and gratifying my actions. One of the main reasons I volunteer is for the community around it, people like Rex and Chef Ray. Their unparalleled kindness and dedication are the beating heart of any sect of volunteering, and their direction, while not traditionally God-like, I see as an embodied divine guidance.
what is your continuing discernment practice?
My discernment of God’s will is on a daily basis. It is easy for me to worry about His will and to follow it to an acceptable level. Understanding what you want and what is good for you is an important distinction you must make on a daily basis. And to me, to listen to one’s self is to listen to God. I have had several experiences where I have done something that I wanted to do but went too far with it without balancing it with other things. One of my primary wishes on the weekend is to do nothing at all, as I often feel like I have done enough during the week. But too much of nothing turns into something, that something being boredom. And I realize that it is my duty to treat myself the way I was intended to and just break it up. To circle back, I often feel more fulfilled and less anxious after a ramp build or a kitchen shift because I get a couple of hours to fully take my mind off of things and work towards something plausibly achievable.
STORIES OF DISCERNMENT
These Stories of Discernment came out of our 2024 year-long focus on discernment as a parish. Throughout the summer, we will share these stories to inspire our community to continue to explore ways to listen to God’s call in our lives as individuals and as a parish.
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