Salvation in Service
Peace Corps’ motto used to be “the toughest job you’ll ever love.” That it is. I’ve written in this space a time or two about my time in the Peace Corps. Long ago, for two years, I went without electricity or running water or a flush toilet. At one point, I had the runs courtesy of dysentery for something like 35 straight days. Malaria’s cyclical fevers were regular visitors. So were oozing boils that one staph infection after another produced. I know this sounds comical, but I can say without hesitation that it was good fortune to have had the experience.
I managed to humiliate myself on more than one occasion. The work I was sent to do turned out to be mostly inconsequential. And I am so glad I did it. Best job I ever had, hands down, which is saying something because I’ve been blessed to be chosen for some remarkable ones.
I shudder to think where or what I’d be if I had never been given that job. I brought about very little change compared to how much the job changed me. It forever …
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