Comments on: Pointless Service: Does it have a Point?

By: Pdad

Pdad — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:55:09 +0000

I’m reminded of the famous story from then Elder Eyring about his dad weeding the patch of onions in a lot of pain an then laughing when he found out that he had been directed to the wrong set of weeds and the weeds he had weeded had already been sprayed and were dying.

http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=7059

By: Claudia Armann

Claudia Armann — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:46:34 +0000

Just for the heck of it, I’ll say that a lot of “service” can be quite pointless and that we should step back and ask what we can do with our precious time that will make the most impact. When I volunteer, I want to feel that my effort has made a real, concrete difference. If I come away with that feeling, I am more likely to stay engaged and do more. While I’ve done my share of pointless service, you kind of need some of that to start asking the bigger questions about impact and really moving the needle on issues of importance. Over many years of volunteering with nonprofits, I have honed a few special skills (building & managing databases, grant writing, writing newsletters, etc.) and now always offer to help with these types of projects versus helping with efforts that anyone off the street can do. [Pmom], you are a particularly sharp cookie – you probably have unique skills that would make your service truly impactful and best utilize your precious time. A good blog topic indeed!

By: Amanda Olsen

Amanda Olsen — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:32:56 +0000

do we do service to get gratification? Because that is what it is when our pan comes back empty or when we work hard at a project, right? I am not sure, just my thoughts. I think service is more for us and our progress than anything else. It is our growth. But I do know frusturation when you make all these arrangements to do service and it is not needed. Ugh! again a lesson for me I am sure.

By: liz

liz — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:00:27 +0000

It had never occurred to me that donated blood would sometimes be thrown away. I googled it, to see if I could find out how often that happens, but didn’t immediately find a satisfying answer. As a recipient of a transfusion a couple of years ago, I am mighty grateful people are willing to give. I would like to think blood is rarely wasted.

On the larger issue, I think we do lots of things that end up being a waste of time. Cleaning my kitchen floor, for example, which is nearly always followed by someone spilling their milk. While we wouldn’t intentionally waste time (I’m not talking about using time for leisure, or rest), we can’t always prevent it. Figuring out how to spend one’s time is what life is all about. We can be thoughtful and prayerful about it, and have the best of intentions, but then we have to let it go when things don’t go as planned.

Serving is good when it helps us be more selfless, regardless of the outcome. I’m pretty sure it would have been ok to go home on the playground painting project, though. 100 people and 20 paintbrushes is just silly. Oh, and when our ward does funeral luncheons, the extra food is often delivered to shut-ins or others who might appreciate it. I don’t think any cake is ever wasted.