From Selfishness to Service

To my fellow BYU students and anyone else this may apply to:

Maybe it’s the social worker in me, but I have been thinking a lot lately about how selfish we have become not only as an American society, but even more specifically, as BYU students. Now, as a disclaimer, all of the good that is done by those on our campus does not go unnoticed. I am continually amazed by those who reach out and make a difference. So, this probably won’t apply to every individual at BYU, but I think it applies to most of us, including myself.

One of the campus entrances reads: “Enter to learn, go forth to serve.” I love that slogan, but it seems that more and more we use that idea as an excuse to focus entirely on ourselves during our education and as an exemption from serving now.

All too often, I hear people saying (maybe not in such blatant terms) that the needy, the poor, the sick and afflicted deserve what they’re getting—that they are lazy, no good bums or that they got themselves into whatever mess they are in so they should be able to get themselves out. How many people actually choose to be sick or disabled or orphaned or homeless or a number of other things that puts them at a disadvantage? Extremely few. And even if they did choose, which in the majority of cases they don’t, does that mean our responsibility to help is revoked? When did we decide that we are above serving our fellow man?

How long has it been since each of us has reviewed the statement in Mosiah 18:8-9 that we all covenanted to live by? Are we helping to lighten the burdens of those around us? Are we mourning with those who mourn? Comforting those that stand in need of comfort?

Or, as in Matthew 25, are we feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick? It seems to me that more and more, we are increasingly concerned with our own self-preservation and accomplishment than of serving our fellow man. We have turned the scripture into, “I’ll give the canned foods that are expired or that I’ll never eat to the food bank, I’ll donate my clothes that are old and worn and torn to those in need, and I’ll visit the sick if they’re not contagious and it is convenient to my schedule.”

I am a strong proponent of self-reliance, but I also recognize that many people need help in getting there. How can a man learn to fish without access to a fishing pole or a spear or a net and a knowledge of how to use them? How can we expect the homeless to become contributors to the GNP if they don’t have access to training and education? How do we expect the orphans of the world to grow up and make morally sound choices if they were never taught morals in the first place?

God didn’t make us able-bodied and intelligent with the chance for excellent education only for us to put ourselves on a pedestal above those around us unable to experience the same opportunities. What I wouldn’t give to see someone get a B instead of an A on a test because they used their study time to lend a listening ear. How I long to see someone forgo that brand jewelry or jeans to clothe someone who can’t provide that for themselves. I hope for the day when we more often forget ourselves to remember another. As President Hinckley often reminded us, “We can all be a little kinder, a little more generous, a little more thoughtful of one another.”