by Lynn Mandaville

“He recognized that serving others enriched the giver’s soul.”

This is an isolated quote taken from the eulogy given by George W. Bush for his father, George H. W. Bush, last week.

I love how succinctly it encompasses the truth about doing for others, for doing something for someone who is not one’s self.

Last year about this time I told the story of my being invited to an award ceremony for volunteers in the city of Chandler AZ.  I told about how uncomfortable those people were who were singled out for all the good that is done throughout this city of a quarter million people.  It seemed to me at the time that people who do good deeds do them for the sake of goodness, and not for the public recognition.  And I still stand by that claim.  Those whose hearts are, for lack of a better word, pure, simply do good because it’s the right thing to do.

But in light of that brief sentence at the top of this piece, I would like to expand on the truth of that sentiment a little bit, because I’ve learned quite a bit about giving of one’s self during my year and a half volunteering at the Chandler Public Library.

The key concept is the enrichment of the giver’s soul.  But therein lies the secret that some of us do the right thing, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes us feel good about ourselves.

Let me explain.

When one does something that makes another’s life better (be it volunteering or in the career one has chosen), we humans get a rush of endorphins, that lovely chemical the brain releases when we feel pleasure.  When we do something selfless, we recognize a goodness within ourselves that boosts our self-esteem, our egos.  It’s an endorphin rush that we want to repeat regardless of whether anyone else notices.

Therefore, doing good becomes a two-way street.  In doing something kind, gracious, helpful, or courageous for someone else, the doer gets in return the chemical reward.

When stated in this manner, the act of doing good seems less noble and more selfish.  I prefer, then, to view service to others as a symbiotic relationship between human beings.

Symbiosis is defined as an interaction between two organisms that is mutually beneficial to both.  These relationships, in the natural world, can be long-lasting, as between sharks and the remora fish who feed off the parasites on the sharks.  Neither is harmed.  In fact, each performs a life sustaining function for the other.

I can give you a real life example from my own volunteer work at the library.

Chandler Library is a big enterprise.  Like all public institutions, financing is always an issue.  By building and nurturing an army of volunteers, more mundane tasks can be performed by non-paid individuals like me, thus freeing the paid staff for work that may require a more specialized level of education or training.

For two days a week, I, like many other volunteers, process the courier bins that deliver materials between the downtown branch and the other three outlying branches.  It’s a routine job that can be quickly mastered, but it’s time consuming work to “waste” on paid, degreed people.  For five or so hours per week I can check in items and send them on their way back to the shelves, or, more importantly, to the hundreds of patrons who are waiting for their latest best-seller, or cookbook, or study guide, or Marvel Universe hero to arrive.

This is a great benefit to the library because it keeps the clientele happy and operations moving smoothly.  And in return, I get that endorphin rush, coupled with a reason to get up and about every Tuesday and Thursday, an opportunity to make new friends, and to converse with other intelligent adults about a wide range of topics.  And for some of the volunteers I meet, like retired widows and widowers, it provides a caring and supportive community in what might otherwise be a lonelier existence.

Who benefits more is debatable, but we all agree, paid staff and volunteers alike, that we need each other, and that serving each other enriches all of our souls.

George H. W. Bush likened people who serve to points of light in the universe of human community.  It’s a nice metaphor because it speaks to the meaning of light in the world.  Light that is truth, light that illuminates all around us, light that fosters warmth and germination of life itself and the essence of the spirit, light that is knowledge, freely available to everyone.

This is a time of year when a large portion of the world celebrates the birth of one who is referred to as the Light of the World.  Whether or not your particular religious bent is Christian, the principles of the world’s major religions all revere that which is best in creation.  Even doubters and non-believers hold the same basic tenets of that which is righteous and good in the world.  The truths that were described by Thomas Jefferson, et. al., as self-evident.

Bush #41 has been laid to rest.  The moral concepts that shaped his life have not.

As my husband and I used to say to the newly graduated of our church youth group, go out and do something for someone who isn’t you.  When you do you will know the joy of your own enriched soul.