Explore Humanity!

My father was a blood donor for many years. I remember him coming home with pins for his many gallons of whole blood donations. Maybe that inspired me, but I have been a blood donor since I was first eligible. Last year I set a personal goal of six donations and reached it. Just this past Saturday, I gave my first platelet donation. Before you think I am simply dusting off my trophy for altruism, please know I have a confession: As much as I like knowing I can do a good thing for someone, as important as it is to help others, I do it because I like the exploration.

I know, I know, there are other ways to explore without actually giving away a baggie full of blood or spending a couple of hours having blood withdrawn and replaced; but if I did things the easy way, I wouldn't be me. Truth is, when I schedule my donations, I try to go places I've never been before. There are so many local icons I've never seen from better than a roadside vantage, this gives me an opportunity to check them out. Before the local soccer stadium opened, I attended a blood drive, got team gear and a tour of the place. I've gotten signed memorabilia from drives at other local stadiums and tickets to events. I've been to churches, businesses, schools, VFWs, nursing homes, hospitals, and government buildings.

I get it, this may not seem so great to you, but in visiting these places, I've become familiar with the places people work and worship and spend their free time. When I meet someone who says they work at such-and-such community center, we immediately have something in common. And having something in common can make people want to share their stories. And stories are my life's blood (no pun intended).

Even the blood drives themselves are ways of hearing people's stories. The "canteen," a little refreshment area at the end of every donation point is a great place to listen to folks -- people love to talk over a meal, even if it is a bag of Sun Chips and a canned orange juice. The stories people tell are glimpses into who they are and where they've come from; and they're precious! It may even be a bit ironic that people who've just spent an hour or more giving something so valuable to others would sit at a folding table sharing more of themselves with yet another person. Then again, that may be the tie that binds -- they figure only a giver could understand the intrinsic worth of a piece of another giver.

If you are a believer, I encourage you to place yourself in positions of opportunity. Explore the local territory; explore the locals. Make humanity your business. Jesus did.