What's Important?

The Saturday before Christmas I visited one of the Fresh Food Initiatives (distribution of fresh produce) operated by a church not too far from where I live. The food came from the Food Bank where I work.

At the church there were about 25 volunteers getting ready to give away about 7 skids of food (each skid weighed between 500 and 1,500 lbs.) A lot of helping hands, a lot of food and a lot of folks in need waiting to receive it.

After spending time there I came home and, on a whim, quickly went on line to check the status of my retirement plan (not a pension but an alternative).

When I logged on I was surprised to find that the balance read "0" and that every penny had been taken out the day before!

My initial response was "YIKES!" what's going on? My second response was to make a decision to pray about it. It was the weekend, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

After the retirement account check-in, I went to work for a bit. It was a Family Matters Day, when we invite families, service clubs, neighbors and others to come and volunteer with us for a few hours on a Saturday; outside of the normal weekday, workday routine.

I was still concerned about my retirement account (or at this point, what I thought was a lack of one!) But as soon I walked past my desk and out the door that leads to the volunteer area, a miracle happened.

There must have been 40-plus different volunteers busily helping to sort out a grassroots food collection. Even better, half of them were kids, Scouts, who were literally getting into the big wire totes (collection bins) to pull out canned goods. The positive energy level was enormous.

As if to set the mood, there was Christmas music playing. And as I walked from one group of volunteers to another, each of them had a smile on their face and a "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" greeting to share.

In no time, I found myself coming under the influence of the holiday spirit. All of a sudden it didn't matter what amount of money I had in my retirement account, or if I had one at all.

Once I got back to my desk, a memo that I had put aside without really reading it was staring me in the face. It's title? "Notification of Switching Retirement Accounts." The memo had been written three weeks before, explaining that our retirement accounts were being reorganized, resulting in a "withdrawal" from the existing account as they were being placed into a new one. The memo went on to explain that no money would be lost. It was simply an accounting procedure, nothing more.

For me, the lesson I learned on the drive from my home to the Food Bank that day was: Where do I choose to place my trust? For me, by the time I got to the Food Bank I had already made a decision not to ultimately trust in money. Sharing holiday joy with volunteers only confirmed that decision.