Going the extra mile

Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. -Matthew 6:41 

I am reading Stephenie Meyer's Twilight  and came across this line "Just because we've been… dealt a certain hand… it doesn't mean that we can't choose to rise above — to conquer the boundaries of a destiny that none of us wanted."

Edward Cullen's effort in fighting his very nature, because he doesn't want to be the monster that he is, for me reflects that "going the extra mile". More than that actually, he chose a different path. Sure, it took him more than his superpowers would allow him to accomplish this task. He did it anyway. Perhaps out of love… or out of his family's belief in goodness. It is also the price he has to pay for being a vampire with a conscience.

I'm no Edward Cullen… of course, I would love to have his superpowers.

When I was a Gurong Pahinungod volunteer, I also felt like a superhuman. I was given  the opportunity to "go the extra mile" in the name of service. Not because I was told to. Nor I have such an overwhelming love for the people of my assignment… I don't exactly know why I did it. Perhaps because I was there. God put me there. So I did what I could. Who am I to question God's will?

There are things that volunteers have to do in their areas of deployment and there are some things that are expected of them. That is why, "nothing comes stronger that the heart of a volunteer". Ehem

We were deployed as teachers and we are just there to teach and take on a community project. Somehow we managed to do more than that… we touched their lives. But not as much as they touched ours, I say.

When we go out of our way to help others -- family, friends, or people we just meet, it is also a way of going that extra mile that God asked us to. It doesn't have to be a big task. Small things really count.

When was the last time I went the extra mile for somebody?