At a friend’s suggestion, I’ve been reading the book Let Your Life Speak, Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer. I identify with Palmer’s harried quest to find his vocation. He writes, “Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic selfhood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks—we will also find our path of authentic service in the world. True vocation joins self and service, as Frederick Buechner asserts when he defines vocation as ‘the place where your deepest gladness meets the world’s deep need.’” Poetic, though I’m not quite certain what Palmer means, nor am I clear in which direction I should go.
Fortuitously, Michelle Obama sent me an email announcing the new initiative that she launched, United We Serve, to tackle the tough problems we all face. I’m such a sucker for great marketing, especially if I see a captivating logo and a well-written plea: “It [Service] should be a part of everyone's life. From the moment someone can walk to the day they leave this planet, service should be a part of how we give back, how we say thank you, how we express our gratitude for the lives that we've been given.”
How could I resist? So I responded to Mrs. Obama’s call to action and participated in the National Health Care Day of Service this past weekend. I attended a community organizing event in Anaheim Hills where two prominent doctors pointed to slide after slide of the current horrific state of health care and the desperate need for reformation. Before the doctors spoke, the organizer wanted each of us, approximately 25 in attendance, to share his or her experiences with health care and why we came. There were teachers, nurses, health-care providers, retirees, CEO’s, etc. all confessing their profuse confusion about the broken system. The story that impacted me most was from a woman whose son was born with the rare blood condition hemophilia. She said his treatment costs about $350,000 to $400,000 per year (just over 3% have a household income of $200,000 or more), with a 20% health insurance premium. That’s an $80,000 premium (median household income is $47,000)! She lamented that her son, now a 22-year-old college graduate who was never really fond of school, is forced to go to graduate school so he can maintain continuous health insurance under her insurance policy; a lapse in coverage could pose a huge health risk for him. Sad…and very expensive!
Now I’m making phone calls. At the end of the event I blindly volunteered, so of course they put me on the phone. Thank God I’m not cold-calling. Basically, I'm thanking people for sharing their health care stories they submitted either online or at a recent Health Care Kickoff Meeting. And I’m asking them if they want to share their stories with me again; I’ll write it, edit it, get permission to use it and ask if they want to speak publicly about it. This process seems a bit redundant, but I’m not sure how everything operates quite yet. Thirty-nine calls shouldn’t take too long, right?
