Issue 4, January 22, R4
FEED the NEED
For the past six months, the young adults of Texas have undertaken a mission of serving lunch and love to the needy in and around downtown Houston. In a large city such as Houston, there are many community shelters. But, in the downtrodden areas, there are even more needy folks than can be taken in by the shelters and some inevitably get left out to fend for themselves.
It is to alleviate this pain that the young adults set out, not only to feed the need of the body, but also of the soul. Sometimes, the needy are aplenty, huddling under overpasses and graciously accepting the offerings. Other times the young adults have had to follow their inner GPS(God Positioning System) to allow them to find undiscovered abodes. But each and every time, the young adults found those whose eyes go from a puzzled look of “Why are they pulling in here?” to eyes which light up when they realize there is finally a respite to their hunger for food and love.
The youth meet at a young adult’s home on the last Sunday of every month and prepare 108 lunch bags consisting of a sandwich, snack, fruit, water bottle, and the vibrations of Love. The most recent December Seva was unique as there were many more than expected huddled under the bridges - the youth had never encountered so many in prior months.
Many warm greetings of “Happy New Year” were exchanged between the youth and the needy when they were handing out the lunch bags. Though the youth felt blessed to have the opportunity to serve people on New Year’s Eve, their hearts sank when they checked the car and came to know that they did not have enough lunch bags for all. They apologized to those patiently waiting in line for not having any more lunch bags, said a silent prayer to Bhagawan and returned home.
Shortly after returning home, one youth went back to his car just to clean up and was utterly surprised to see an entire bag full of lunch bags in the trunk of the car! Till today the youth do not know how they missed seeing that bright blue bag as they had checked the car for any additional bags in the downtown. The young adult immediately felt that he should go back to that bridge to serve those who did not receive a lunch bag. He drove back out on his own to downtown and handed out the bags one by one. Whether the big blue bag was simply missed or it mysteriously appeared, it was a beautiful experience for that young man as well as for the other youth who were truly inspired by his immense dedication. The Texas youth look forward to their next Seva opportunity, scheduled for Sunday, January 29th, 2017.
LOVE ALL, SERVE ALL.
