This week i had cause to ponder the relative realities of human existence. Yes, pretty profound and heavy eh? Well, let me explain.
I volunteered, as part of a company scheme, for a day's work at an event called Sydney Homeless Connect. The event was simply a day for homeless people in Sydney. One homeless person actually described it as like "Christmas Day" for homeless people. Everything from clothes to massages to haircuts on the one hand; to medical aid, housing and welfare advice were collected together in Sydney Town Hall to come to the aid of about 1800 men, women and children down on their luck. It was an incredible feat of organization, here are some facts and figures:
- 1800 homeless and at risk homeless people
- 1500 hot lunches cooked and eaten
- 60 back, shoulder and hand massages
- 300 haircuts
- 800 pairs of shoes, 200 blankets and several hundred pairs of jeans distributed
- 100 service and support organisations took part
It was a day of conflicting emotions. It is great to be able to help people in that situation. I had a job as a "chaperone" - greeting the "patrons" as they arrived and pointing them in the right direction for what they needed. The conversation is unusual in it's nature. To be able to ask a destitute person what they need and most likely be able to help is rare. "I want clothes", they might say, "great well clothes are downstairs, come this way." "I need a birth certificate," says another, "no problem, come with me." "Can I have lunch?" another would ask, "yes, take a seat over there and you'll be waited on". It's not often you get to do that. It's a terrific moment, albeit mitigated by the fact that the satisfaction of being able to provide a solution was brought about by the misery of the original need.
But despite all the various needs that were met there was something surprising missing. There was massage. There was food. People received good coffee, for free. They received free shoes, dental help, pedicures even. But amongst all this, a conversation with one gentleman stuck with me. "Can I help out?" he asked. Sadly we already had more volunteers than we could possibly need. Oftentimes there were more people helping than being helped! But his question went to a wider problem: "I'm just bored, I'd like to do something with my time."
Right then and there I had an epiphany. This material society will tell me that the most important parts of my privileged position in life is that I have more than enough money to get through the week, that I own all the electronic gadgets I want and that the only holes in my clothes are the ones put there by designers. But in this moment I realised that beyond the money that my gainful employment brings me, the unseen importance of it is a sense of purpose when I get up in the morning. I mean it's not like I'm fighting crime, disease or even poor nutrition day in day out; but I do have...something to do. There was very little this day could do about this need. Only he could solve this problem.
The next morning I went to work with a different perspective.