Stories

Paradoxes and muffins: volunteering in the Drop-in

by Damien Paul

I’ve been volunteering at Good Shepherd since 2005. I come every Tuesday to do the “Drop In”.  Eventually drafted into the kitchen (thanks Nari!), I’m now doing everything from making meat-loaf to climbing around vast Antarctic-reminiscent freezers hunting for casseroles.

It’s exhausting, a strain on my time and muscles and I come home covered in colourful stains and bits of muffin lodged in my navel.  Still, the six or so hours I’m there every Tuesday are the happiest of my week.

The rest of my time is spent practicing criminal law here in Toronto.  Practicing law  has the virtue of not straining muscles and it hardly ever results in food soils in my hair. However, it does not (surprise!) provide that same sense of doing good.  Nor is it as cheerful.  Given the clients’ of Good Shepherd’s often dismal circumstances, the atmosphere is surprisingly buoyant. 

Christianity is full of astonishing paradoxes. The last shall be first, the first - last. The Christian walks around humbled by the knowledge of his own (in my case bounteous) imperfections, yet strangely ennobled by his status as a child of God.  These paradoxes are made real to me every Tuesday. In the face of the guy with the bad teeth and the interesting aroma I’m invited to see the King of Kings. A homeless old guy with grime under his nails tells me with the voice of a child that God has been amazingly good to him. And the ultimate paradox to me – a lawyer with a comfortable life is most happy getting bits of muffin stuck in his navel.