myMARYMOUNT

“I saw the best version of myself – one I never even knew existed. I’ve never felt more alive.”

10/31/2014

On October 29, the Marymount community gathered for our annual Service Fair. This year, rather than focusing on showing girls WHERE service opportunities exist, we invited LMU Campus Minister of Faith and Justice and Author/Speaker on Experiential Learning, Patrick Furlong, to share his story of transformation and the power of service. We asked him to answer the question, 'Just why is performing service important, anyway?'

Furlong, a graduate of Loyola Marymount University and USC’s Price School of Public Policy, spoke to the rapt audience about his journey, which began during his senior year at LMU, and the somewhat impetuous trip that changed the trajectory of his life. Finding himself essentially alone in a foreign country, and very much in need of the kindness and generosity of strangers, Furlong began to realize that people in need of help are no different from you and me.

When we think of the people we serve as far more similar to than different from us, our view of service changes. Those people who are in need of our help are often very much like ourselves, our friends, our neighbors. This reframing, Furlong noted, results in the realization that the service we perform provides US with far more than we give. Furlong concluded his presentation with a quote from a colleague:

“Most people have it wrong. They say, ‘Show me proof that there is goodness in the world, and then I will believe that goodness exists.’ What I’ve learned through my service work is that the opposite is true: ‘When you believe that there is goodness in the world, you will begin to see it everywhere, you will see God in every creature on earth.' ”

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