My friend Helen Mildenhall, blogmaster for Off The Map and self-described “almost Atheist”, posted this over on her blog (Conversation at the Edge), so I’m of course stealing most of it and posting it here where it belongs. God told me it was ok. Honest.

I was encouraged to read about Russell Jackson this morning on CNN. As CNN reports

in 1997 [Russell] gave up his career as an Alabama firefighter, moved in with friends and dug into his retirement account to start Kid One Transport, a nonprofit organization that provides rides for needy children in his home state.

In 1992 Russell responded to an emergency call for a toddler. They were unable to save the child’s life. This profoundly affected Russell.

To process his grief, Russell accepted the suggestion of a counselor to get involved in volunteer work. When he did, this is what he discovered

“When I drove into the community, it was a world of its own. It was a lot of homes that were deplorable. And that’s really the only way I can explain them,” he says.

Jackson says he was instantly ashamed by his own comfortable lifestyle.

“All it took was the one visit,” he recalls, “and I knew I really wanted to come out and work with these folks, hand in hand, and do whatever I could to help make life a little bit easier for them.”

When social workers told him about the neighborhood children who had no way to travel to and from appointments for chemotherapy, physical therapy and even for regular checkups, Jackson started driving them there himself.

Before long this one-man operation grew into a 13-van team covering 30 counties. Though Jackson recently stepped down from a daily role in the organization he founded, he says the best part of his work has been meeting the families and witnessing firsthand so many medical transformations.

There were some who learned to speak, another who learned to walk, and others who recovered from life-threatening illnesses — even when doctors were less than hopeful.

“I saw so many lives changed, so many determined children and parents who wanted to beat the odds that were against them,” Jackson says.

This week’s featured OA from the New Life Community Church e-zine:

I volunteer at a hospital, just to try to be of help to people during difficult times. Several months ago one of the elderly ladies that volunteer at the hospital missed her shifts for a few weeks. When I inquired as to why, I found out that she had a recurrence of cancer. It has now come back in her bones and is incurable.

She has decided to not pursue any treatment. She has stopped all chemo-therapy treatment because the cost was eating into her savings. I called her to see if I could help in any way. After having a nice conversation, we decided that I could best help by taking her out every other week on a Tuesday morning, shopping for groceries. On the alternate Tuesdays we do something different. This week we are going to hunt for a store that has a good selection of rubber stamps. (She loves those things.)

I have learned that she writes poetry, and wants to illustrate the pages with birds. She is now under Hospice care for the rest of the week and they have been so very good to her. They even “hard bound” one of her books for her, and she is thrilled.

I learned so much from the Doable Evangelism Seminar. I regularly leaf through the book (Evangelism Without Additives) just to remind myself of the simple things we can do, that can really mean a lot.

I took the bus to work this week. Gas prices drove me to take public transportation, but now I feel like there are more reasons to take the bus to work.

I saw so many faces. I was next to so many people. In our world here on the Peninsula, we live in proximity to many, but we are close to very few. On the bus we are forced to rub shoulders with the person next to you. On the bus we are forced to have contact with people. It is a very good thing.

There were lots of conversations all around me. Sure, plenty of people had earphones on - continuing to live in isolation — but most people smiled, greeted each other, thanked the driver, wished people a good day. It felt human. It felt like we are supposed to act this way. I observed people. I prayed behind their backs. I felt connected. I’m riding the bus as often as I can now.

(anonymous, from New Life Community Church in Burlingame, CA)