IN HELPING, I FOUND EVERYTHING

          Marion Mill's life was a fairy tale.  She was born in a palace in Hungary with a silver spoon in her mouth.  She attended the best schools and the most prestigious university in Vienna.  She fell in love with a medical doctor named Otto Preminger.  They soon immigrated to America and set- tled in Hollywood.   When Otto changed careers and become a film director, Marion became an “international hostess".  Soon thereafter Marion's life began to spiral out of control (alcohol , drugs and severe depression).  She attempted suicide on three different occasions.   Her affairs became so sordid that Otto finally divorced her.  In a last-ditch effort to stabilize her life she moved back to Vienna.  There she met another doctor, Albert  Schweitzer, who happened to be home on leave from a mission work in Lambarene, Africa.  She was fascinated by his willingness to sacrifice fame and fortune to live in an obscure African village.  She met with him often over the next six months during which time Albert shared with her how he was trying to make a lasting difference with his life.  When Schweitzer's sabbatical ended, Marion accompanied him back to Africa and ended up spending the rest of her life emptying bedpans and tearing up sheets to make bandages for the putrid sores of the African nationals.  When Marion died, Time magazine quoted these words from her autobiography titled, All I Want Is Everything:  Dr. Schweitzer says there are two kinds of people.  There are helpers and non-helpers.  I thank God that He allowed me to become a helper, and IN HELPING I FOUND EVERHTING.”      

          God has designed us humans to find deep satisfaction in serving others - - not slavery, but willful servitude.  The call of Jesus to serve others is not a punishment, but rather a blessing.  Even the secular world of psychology acknowledges that people who serve others are typically happier and healthier.  The charge of Jesus is quite clear:  whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wish to be first among you shall be your slave (Mt.20:26-27).  The life of Jesus Christ provides us with an exceptionally powerful example (Mt.20:29 & Jn.13:15).     

                                              Terry Siverd / Cortland Church of Christ