Matthew 25:40

Friends:

I have been criticized, supported, shunned and embraced for my recent choices in forfeiting a plausible career occupation for a mere three-week period during which I will be staying in and helping with a shelter in the South for the American Red Cross.

Perhaps the following goings-on of my mind chronologically laid out for you will help those who would like to understand my motives. Perhaps it may quell the naysayers, perhaps it will incite more opposition. Regardless, these are my experiences and my decisions. This is what makes me me, as yours make you you. I take criticism and feedback (though not always graciously, at first) and appreciate any comments. An experience you have had may well help me to grow. And hopefully my life can help you as well.

If you are a reader of my blog, you are already aware that I am a Utah-bred member of the LDS church, served a full-time youth mission, and since returning home have faced some adversity, causing me to dig deep into my beliefs and purpose (or sense of purpose). Even considering rerouting my lifestyle entirely, these last couple of years during which I battled depression amongst other things, the results are in: I have decided to rewire my beliefs based more upon principles taught in my faith, rather than upon rules and regulations, the dos and don'ts. I have reprogrammed my code and hopefully left enough room for future change; I plan on leaving my interpretations of doctrine open to future change and recoding. I would like to be dynamic and flexible within my beliefs, but have decided that I will not change them from pure Mormon doctrine.

I have made poor decisions which have landed me outside of the boundaries required for temple attendance. Okay, here is where the point of today's 'blog comes in: why am I leaving my job to help strangers?

In working with my bishop and as he has helped me to understand the relationship between Jesus and me, I have done a lot of studying: reading from scripture and the endless commentary on such; studying of myself...and on and on. I think a lot, and in my pursuit to find truth (or perceived truth), these activities have led me to the light offered by the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Or rather, it helped me to stop ignoring his influence and actually seemed to amplify it. And this is what I feel from him.

I know that as noble and good as my life has been at times, there also exist deeds and practices which go against the will of God. With these irreversible blemishes present, I cannot fulfill my purpose of gaining substantial happiness. So we have been given a Jesus figure to give us aid in reconciling the wrongs we have done, and he therefore deserves our worship.

Yes, worship. This term is appropriate. I have thought a lot about how I could pay him back, because at times of prayer I have felt so intensely feelings of gratitude and love, I have wanted to shout "how can I pay you back!" Yes, how can we pay him back? Um...not possible. In studying theology, I have concluded that we cannot do it. If we are capable of repaying him, man repaying Deity, we should also be capable of making ourselves square with God sans Jesus Christ, and this is not the case.

So I say that we should worship him as a form of payback, as best as mortals can. He offers us ways that we can worship him, and I have discovered something vitalizing within Matthew 25:40. How many times have I read this verse? But this time I read it with a stronger motivation to fulfill it.

I turned my attention to how I could be a contributer to my community, other communities, individuals, whomever. I tried to volunteer to help with the Church's need of bodies in the Perpetual Education Fund, but currently they only need bilingual English/Spanish speakers, and I was turned down. At every chance I had to sign up for a service project, I would. I started stopping to help distressed motorists on the highway every time. I tried to make a conscious effort to seek out the needs in others, but although the young ladies with the flat tire were grateful, I still didn't feel like I was doing enough.

Then I looked at myself. I own four bicycles: road bike, $1,000; mountain bike hard-tail, $3,000; mountain bike soft-tail, $5,000; commuter bike, $700. Friends, I only have two legs and one butt, so who needs all of those bikes? Upstairs I have a home theater that I never use. I have meals everyday, I sleep in a bed, I enjoy movies and pizza and leisure.

Without the news media, I would never have known about Katrina. I thought of people young and old who may not know where their family members are, relocated to a new locale, their lives washed away by nature's gale. They probably don't even have a picture of their families, and I am sitting here with four bikes--and the debt accumulated in building them. This most certainly does not sit right with me. As I went to a pre-volunteer orientation presented by the American Red Cross, it became so clear that this is an ideal channel for me to give of myself. I am weary of being a Christian grandstander, voicing strong approval of service and charity and love and compassion yet not having the courage to step outside of myself and my comfort zone to do something. When asked if I would be willing to relocate and offer aid in manning the Red Cross shelters in the South, I replied affirmatively.

This meant that I would have to request leave from my employer, WorkingRx. I was not only denied leave but was told that if I choose to depart for three weeks that my position would be filled, as my duties are somewhat specialized and I am the only person who carries them out. In all honesty, I foresaw this. What I did not expect was their complacency to the entire situation. In essence, I was forced to resign. I posed the option of reassigning me somewhere within the company infrastructure, as it is a growing company and I would require much less training than an outside hire. They asked me to reapply as an outside hire. Now, replacing me in my position was an expected sound business decision. Yet asking me to reapply sounds more like spite or pettiness or some other cheap tactic, which has really smothered my desire to be further affiliated with WorkingRx. I asked human resources if they are involved in any community- or education-minded charity or any humanitarian cause--they said no. I requested of the HR Director (Joel Deaton) and the CEO (Bob McCaffrey) that they discuss it with the Board, and was outright ignored.

So, they left it up to me: stay in my position after being completely turned off by the company and have job security, or volunteer for something I believe in and resign with a possibility of coming back if I reapplied. Honestly, my reaction was silent and remained in my head, but I really wanted to tell them to do a four-letter word to themselves. If I have to reapply without the consideration of my hard work and job experience with the same company, then I would rather seek my fortune elsewhere.

A few months ago, I was approached by founder, former CEO, current board member and employee of Samaritan Technologies, Joseph Wecker, with the possibility of becoming part of their work force. It excited me then and it excites me now, and I will tell you why.

You can begin by looking at the name of their company; it is not hard to decipher its etymology. It is a software company that writes database software, in essence, to track volunteers and volunteer opportunites within the various programs and organizations. These organizations become not only more effective in rendering volunteer services by efficiently tracking pertinent information with the software, but it creates man hours for more volunteer service to be done.

Samaritan also mandates volunteerism from its employees, quoting from their Web site without permission, "At Samaritan we are very committed to volunteerism. Each of our full-time permanent employees volunteers four hours per month in his or her community."

This is the kind of organization with which I seek to be affiliated. I realize the importance of being self-reliant and earning a livelihood not only for myself but for my family and loved ones. I need an income to survive in this moneymongering society, but do I have to earn that income from a moneymongering employer couched in apathy?

So be it with Samaritan, the Red Cross, the Boy Scouts or whatever company I land in, I would be happy knowing that my employment comes from a company that is good for 1) its community; 2) its employees; and 3) for promoting humanitarian attitudes in everybody.

In the meantime, I am selling all of my things to pay my bills while I am out of work for at least the next six weeks. Contact me for a list of items for sale and their prices, or if you would just like to donate.

God bless you all.

love, Mike
801-554-8792
genkibrady@gmail.com