The message from chapel yesterday really stuck out to
me. Although I typically enjoy chapel,
very few chapel messages I’ve ever heard will impact the rest of my life. Without knowing, I went to a special chapel
for students going on a service trip within the next semester. I went to support my roommate who was
playing guitar, but God knew I needed to hear the message that was being spoken
at this chapel service.
As the speaker was presenting his message, he said an
analogy that really stuck out to me. He
told the story of a monkey, a naive but helpful monkey, who was walking along
the side of the riverbank. He looked
into the river to see a small fish, struggling to swim upstream. His instincts immediately took over, and he
tried to rescue the fish from the rushing water. He tried to reach into the water, but his
arms were too short. He tried to lower a
branch into the water, but the branch wasn’t long enough. Finally, in his last attempt to save the
fish, he swung off the tree branch, into the river, and pulled the fish into
safety on the dry land. Relieved, the
monkey found refuge in the tree that he swung from and decided to take a nap. He noticed the fish before he went to sleep,
and the fish was flopping around on the dry land. The monkey thought the fish was so excited to
be free from the torrential current, but he knew the excitement would subside quickly. After taking a brief nap, the monkey noticed
the fish was not moving. He went over to
the fish, only to see that the fish was also “taking a nap.” Once the fish did not awake from his nap for
a couple hours, the monkey figured the fish was safe on dry land, and the
monkey continued on his journey up the riverbank.
Unfortunately, we all know what the monkey didn't: the fish's fate would have ended better without the monkey's "help."
The speaker continued his message to say that service must
be of use to everyone involved: the server AND the people who are being
served. As I continued to reflect upon
my trip to Indonesia, I felt so alive there because I was able to help in so
many ways. I felt that I was doing great
good for the people, and in the process, they were able to help me as
well. This model of service is one that
I will carry with me into whatever service adventures in which God calls me in
the future.
Please always remember the story of the monkey and the fish
when you plan your next service adventure.
Service can be of great use to the world, but if t is not a part of
God’s plan it can always do more harm than good.
