The Holy Work of Showing up

Lately, I have been walking around Parkdale, noticing things.

The kitchen is shining.

And I mean shining.

After a long summer of coffee, camps, meals, meetings, children, and all the beautiful mess of a well-used building, a couple of volunteers spent hours cleaning it from top to bottom.

Outside, the benches and bridge have a fresh coat of paint. What looked tired a few weeks ago looks cared for again.

Another volunteer has spent endless hours waiting for contractors to arrive. And while he waits, he finds things to fix.

There is always something to fix.

This is, after all, a church.

Over the past few weeks, I have watched people give an extraordinary amount of time to this place.

And I keep thinking about how much of the community is built this way.

Quietly.

A paintbrush in someone's hand.

A cloth across a counter.

A loose hinge tightened.

A pot of coffee made before anyone else arrives.

None of it is glamorous.

All of it matters.

Parkdale simply could not be the community it is without volunteers.

Not because churches need free labour.

Not because faithful people should be exhausted people.

But because there is something beautiful about caring for a place you have decided belongs to you.

Volunteering says:

This place matters.

These people matter.

I want to be part of what we are becoming.

And now a new season is beginning.

Once again, we need people to make the coffee, greet people at the door, and read scripture on Sunday morning.

We need people to move chairs, help with gatherings, care for the grounds and, yes, fix the endless parade of things that need fixing.

These are small things.

Except they aren't.

Someone makes the coffee, and a stranger stays long enough for a conversation.

Someone stands at the door, and a nervous newcomer sees a welcoming face.

Someone reads scripture, and an ancient story finds a new voice.

Someone fixes a broken hinge, and hundreds of people walk through that door without ever knowing who made it work.

Maybe that is what I love most about volunteering.

So much of it is an act of love for people we may never meet.

You don't have to do everything.

Please don't.

You don't need endless hours or extraordinary skills.

Just find one small way to show up.

Because community isn't something we attend.

It is something we make together.

Cup by cup.

Chair by chair.

Welcome by welcome.

Hand by hand.

And to those who have been quietly showing up around Parkdale lately, painting, cleaning, fixing, carrying, waiting, tending:

I see you.

I am grateful.

This place is more beautiful because you care for it.

And so are we.

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