good reading

I got this today, from Heartlight.org




Servin' Safari, by Patrick D. Odum


Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we
will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have
opportunity, let us do good to all people ... (Galatians 6:9-10
NIV).

Dorian Paskowitz saw a need, and the fact that he's Israeli and those
in need are Palestinian doesn't seem to have mattered to him.

Dorian is a retired doctor from Hawaii, 86 years old, who read about
the need and decided to do something about it. He and his son left
sunny Hawaii for the war-torn Gaza Strip for their mission of mercy.
Dorian calls it a "mitzvah," a Hebrew word that means "good deed."
While you might expect Dorian to bring medical supplies, you'd be
wrong. While you wouldn't be surprised if he was bringing food or
clothing, you'd be mistaken.

Dorian Paskowitz went to the Gaza Strip bearing gifts for the
Palestinians that are very near and dear to his heart. Though he
practiced medicine for a half a century or so, he has been a surfer for
twenty-five years longer than he was a doctor. And when he read about
two Palestinian surfers who had to take turns in the gnarly surf off
the Gaza Strip, he could sit still no longer. "I said to my son, 'Come,
we'll go to Israel and get them some boards,'" Dorian explains
matter-of-factly. That's how it came about that Dorian Paskowitz,
tanned and shirtless, happened to be at the Gaza-Israeli border handing
off twelve surfboards to a grateful group of amazed Palestinian
surfers. "When a surfer sees another surfer with a board, he can't help
but say something that brings them together," Dorian says, brushing off
the obvious observations about Israeli-Palestinian tensions. "God will
surf with the devil if the waves are good."

Whether you agree or not, you have to admire the enthusiasm that leads
Dorian to such a conclusion. Arthur Rashkovan, an Israeli surfer who
calls Paskowitz a guru who brought surfing to Israel fifty years ago,
has maybe a more realistic idea: "We want Palestinians to enjoy the
surfing experience. We believe it brings people together. The idea is
for people to forget about the violence and follow the journey to peace
on the waves."

To tell you the truth, I think Dorian Paskowitz is on to something.
Diplomacy, politics, treaties, and laws can't create peace. Wars can
bring about conquest, but battering people into submission is not the
same as bringing about peace. In the end, what creates peace is people
doing good to people, however they have opportunity, until a society
loses its capacity for hate, its impulse for violence, and its
motivation for war. Twelve surfboards won't end centuries of
hostilities, of course. But, find enough people willing to risk
"mitzvahs" of their own, and suddenly anything's possible.

Sometimes it doesn't seem to make a difference.

It was another Israeli, Paul, who said, "[A]s we have opportunity, let
us do good to all people." I like the realism of that. "[A]s we have
opportunity ...." Good deeds aren't necessarily big deals that take you
halfway around the world -- maybe just across town or across the street
or across the hall. The kind of good Paul is talking about is the
everyday kind that might not garner headlines, but that can make all
the difference in the world. It's a visit to a sick friend who really
needs her spirits lifted. It's a kind word to someone who has the
weight of the world on his shoulders. It's babysitting the kids of a
couple who are struggling with their marriage and need time for each
other. It's raking the yard of that widowed neighbor who can't afford
to have it done and has no one else to do it for her. "[A]s we have
opportunity ...." That's doable, you know. All that takes is being
aware of the needs around us and the people who cross our paths. All it
takes is being willing to say "yes" instead of "no," to sacrifice a
little time or a little money or a few of our resources. Paul's talking
about giving a fellow church member a ride to the doctor, then being
there to listen when she talks about her fears. He's talking about
sitting next to that new student -- or that old one no one ever pays
any attention to -- instead of your usual lunchtime crowd. He means
giving a sandwich and a smile to a street-corner beggar, or helping
that single mom you know get school supplies for her kids. There's
nothing earth-shaking there. Nothing of international significance, but
to the person who is the beneficiary of the good -- the recipient of
your "mitzvah" -- it makes all the difference.

I guess that's why Paul warns us that our tendency will be to become
weary of doing good. It's not that doing good is in itself all that
exhausting, though it can be. I wonder if he means, though, that
sometimes it doesn't seem to make a difference. After all, the beggar
is still a beggar after he eats the sandwich I give him, and pretty
soon he'll be hungry again. That single mom doesn't have to buy her
kids' school supplies, but what about the braces and the winter coats
and the house payment? That sick friend will still be sick after my
visit, and that couple might still split up. And even after Dorian
Paskowitz dropped off those boards, Israelis and Palestinians live in
tension. What good we're able to do might not have any long-term
benefit. It might not solve any "big" problems. And that can be
tiresome.

Paul, however, promises that good deeds are never in vain. "At the
proper time we will reap a harvest," he promises -- if we don't give
up. That's what distinguishes the Big Kahunas of doing good from the
posers -- follow-through. Paul says you "do good" just because you have
an opportunity to do good, not because you see how it contributes to an
overall solution, or as part of a bigger plan. You "do good" as you
have opportunity, and you leave it to God to sort out the things that
are too big for you. And more often than not, you'll eventually see how
he used your good deed, your "mitzvah," to do something bigger than you
ever imagined. In his time -- the proper time -- you'll have your
harvest.

Until then, keep your eyes and ears and heart and mind open to the good
God wants you to do ... the good you have opportunity to do. It might
not be what you imagined and it might take you to people you'd have
never thought you would serve, but if God's calling you to do it then
there's a reason. Get your balance, get in the pipeline, and ride the
wave wherever it takes you.

Cowabunga!