I saw no purpose of being there

Greetings!

This is the second healing experience.  (Please refer to my last post The Stop at a Railroad Crossing.)

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Near the end of August 2012, we moved back to the state we used to live.  One day, I read about a festival celebration hosted by a charity group on the Chinese newspaper.  Before I went to the event, I prayed that if I could be of help, please let someone who was in charge talk to me about volunteer work.

Many people came for the celebration.  Most of them seemed to come from a certain place.  They talked in a language / dialect I did not know.  Since I did not speak their language, I let go of the idea to volunteer there. 

When I was about to leave, a woman walked by.  I greeted her with a smile.   We exchanged pleasantries.  (Years ago, I had made a vow to acknowledge verbally or mentally all the people that I met as my way of honoring God.)  Soon she walked to me again.  She asked in English if I had time to volunteer.  She said she was the person in charge.  To put a long story short, I began volunteering one day a week.  I also participated in their monthly community service.

The woman in charge was with me when I volunteered for the first time.  During our conversation, I asked why she talked to me about volunteering since many people had come for the celebration.  With a puzzling look, she said she thought I had asked to be a volunteer!  

The volunteer work was not what I expected.  There was nothing to do.  I was in the office by myself the whole day.  The phone rarely rang.  When it did, it was the woman in charge checking on the volunteer on duty.  I eventually learned it had been that way for years.  Other offices in the big cities such as Chicago and New York were more active in community services.  As for this office, the main function was to coordinate with the main office in fundraising to help those in need in the case of a global natural disaster.

After some weeks, I really wondered why I was there.  The person in charge did talk to me as I had prayed.  Could it be just a coincidence and nothing more?  With nothing to do, I saw no purpose of being there.  

One day, I was glad to hear that another volunteer would come in the afternoon, and I could go home after she arrived.  I had met this volunteer during the monthly community service.  She was nice, confident, and treated everyone with respect.  

This volunteer came in early one day.  For the first time, we chatted.  When she heard I did not know much about the computer, she immediately offered to help me.  We went to sit by the computer.  As I listened to her instructions, I made a simple comment about how well she communicated.  She said she wasn't that good, and thought I was just trying to be nice.  I said, "I always speak from my heart.  I don't say things to flatter other people."  I looked at her.  Then I said, "In truth, you had been a teacher for many lifetimes.  That is why you are good at communication and teaching."  As I was talking, she clutched her chest.  There was an indescribable expression on her face.  She managed to say "It's so strange ... your words touch somewhere deep inside my heart" before she broke down in tears.

She cried for a long time.  When she got a hold of herself, she said something in my voice went straight into her heart.  She then talked to me about her pain and sorrow.  She told me how she came to USA.  She loved her parents and had taken good care of them.  She helped her siblings the best she could.  Her parents and siblings loved her very much too.  Her parents got sick and passed away.  She was one of the most loving people that I had ever met, yet for years she lived in pain because she thought she could have done more for her parents.  It caused her health, and she almost died.  While waiting for surgery in the hospital, she made a vow to honor all seniors as if her own parents from then on.  She turned her sorrow into strength.  After retiring from her career, she volunteered in nursing homes and hospitals.  She treated everybody with love and respect.  She had been very busy in her volunteer work, but it was obvious she had not released her deep hidden pain until that afternoon.

Right when we finished talking, someone knocked at the door.  We hugged, and I left.  When I got inside my car, it came to me it was time to leave for I had served the purpose of being there.  Few days later, I told the person in charge I would serve until the end of that month.  

In her willingness to teach me about the computer, that afternoon was the only time we got to talk to one another before I left.  I could not volunteer the following week because I had an appointment.  A week later, she was busy with her other volunteer work.  Weeks later, she sent me a beautiful happy new year card.

I have learned from my experiences that much more are at work in where we go and whom we meet.  Sometimes we may not see the purpose of why we are there, but eventually we will.

Many blessings,
Q of D