Service In Pursuit Of Happiness

In 1 Corinthians 13:13, the Bible states: “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” Faith Hope & Love is a Christian-based community mentorship program that puts this ethic at the center of its mission. Faith Hope & Love serves the community by providing underprivileged children with mentors, ultimately aspiring to better the lives of the students and the community as a whole. Its mission is faith-based, but, coincidentally, finds support in the scientific community.

When Science Provides Evidence to Prove an Ethic

Gallup, an international research institution, over decades of extensive research, identified five essential elements of well-being, which are: (1) career well-being, or simply liking what you do every day; (2) social well-being, or having strong relationships and love in your life; (3) financial well-being, or effectively managing your economic life; (4) physical well-being, or having good health and energy; and, (5) community well-being, or having the sense of engagement with the area where you live. Gallup found that these five elements were universal predictors of happiness for people around the world. The more likely a person responded affirmatively in these five areas, the more likely that person was to report being happy.

Gallup found that people who thrive in their community life tend to contribute to their community based on their own strengths, likes, and passions for the betterment of others. Gallup found that those who thrived in community well-being, typically started small, but often eventually made major impacts. Gallup has extrapolated from its findings to argue that the efforts of people with a thriving community well-being are what create the communities we cannot imagine living without. Interestingly, Gallup found that only 7% of people are thriving in all five areas. Unfortunately, lacking in community service, I find myself in the majority.

Alibi and the Search for Truth

Like many, I find it hard to “find the time” to commit to community service. A common reason (excuse), no doubt. Considering this, I welcomed a recent law school assignment. In my Legal Editing and Professional Presence class, students were required to make one simple presentation to a group of students in Charlotte’s Faith Hope & Love program. The experience proved the truth behind Gallup’s conclusions, and the wisdom behind the Bible’s commandment to service.

The professor required all students to pick any topic related to the law for their Faith Hope & Love presentation. My colleague and I attempted to plant a simple fundamental principle about the law into the minds of the students. The purpose of our presentation was to teach the class that the search for truth is the essence of the law. To keep the class of 8-12 year olds (very short attention spans) engaged, we decided to teach this ethic through a popular English as a Second Language game called “ALIBI.”

In 1838, The Honest Lawyer Abraham Lincoln, said:

Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap -- let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in Almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation; and let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars.

It was a great privilege to have the chance to (attempt to) instill reverence for the law to a class of young Americans.

ESL teachers often use the game ALIBI to practice pronunciation, enunciation, speaking in proper verb tenses, and improve overall oral communication skills. The game encourages inventive thinking through the Socratic method of posing and answering questions. But these were added benefits. Most importantly, the game provided an interactive way to demonstrate how American law is centered on truth. The game Alibi requires understanding two basic words: alibi and truth.

Black’s Law dictionary provides a wordy definition of alibi: a kind of defense used in criminal law where the accused attempts to prove that he was in some other place at the time the alleged crime was committed, or that he was at the scene, but did not commit the crime. The definition of truth, on the other hand, is more elusive. Ten sources provide ten unique answers. Christian ethics, which is at the center of Faith Hope & Love’s work, sometimes defines itself as the truth. We began our presentation by questioning the students’ understanding of these two words. Unsurprisingly, the class of children offered some poignant answers.

Before we addressed the class, we selected two willing students who would play the role of “suspects.” The crime? The unforgivable act of stealing a cookie from the cookie jar! Each suspect picked a classmate to play their “alibi witness.” We wrote, “ALIBI ~ The Search for Truth” on the chalkboard. We introduced ourselves, and laid out the rules of the game. We then asked the students to define alibi. There were several funny answers, but none better than simply, “a story.” When asked to define truth, the class struggled, but our favorite was equally as simple, “what’s real.” So an alibi is a story, and truth is what’s real. We thought poignant from a class of 8-12 year olds.

My colleague took the suspects and alibi witnesses out of the class, and helped them work on their respective alibis. Meanwhile, I worked with the class to come up with 20 questions designed to trap the two suspects, and their witnesses, in contradictions. When ten minutes was up, and the question list was complete, we called the suspects and witnesses into class, and began the interrogation. The class played the role of detectives, and lawyers, and questioned their classmates.

We went around the class and invited each student to ask one or two questions. While interrogating, we marked on the chalkboard inconsistencies found in the two stories. We repeated the process with both suspects, and finally asked the class to play judge and jury. The class was engaged, and had a few laughs. Overall, it was an uplifting experience. At the end of the game, we reminded the students that the purpose of the game ALIBI is similar to the purpose of the law, and Christian ethics—to search for the truth.

Those Who Serve, Find Happiness

Lincoln once said, “In very truth he was, the noblest work of God–-an honest man.” We hope that through our presentation, in some small way, the students gained a deeper understanding of truth.

Funny, the students’ simple definitions have stuck with me. An alibi is a story. And truth is what’s real. Faith Hope & Love seeks to promote Christian ethics through its mentorship program. Through our life experiences, intuitively, we learn that there is truth (or at least a sense of realness, as the children might say) in ethics. There is right, and there is wrong. This distinction between right and wrong is real in the law, as it is in the Christian ethic: when you do good, you feel good.

The spiritual high or good feeling that you experience through community service proves the wisdom found in Galations 5:13, which states: “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly, in love.” It’s not surprising that Gallup’s research observed the wisdom of that commandment around the world.

Teaching the law to young Americans would, no doubt, make Honest Abe proud. Honest Abe gave his life in service to the United States Constitution, which more than anything else protects every Americans right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If achieving personal “happiness” is the quintessential definition of achieving the American Dream, then young Americans who begin their pursuit of it can find guidance in Christian ethics, and Gallup’s ultimate findings: those who serve, find happiness.