Even though it's the barest of bare minimums in terms of God's mission for the poor, I still managed to find ways to have a less-than-pure attitude when I would accompany my house church group to homeless shelters to serve meals. There's not always enough chocolate cake, for one thing, so whoever's on "cake duty" has to have the sort of personality that can withstand nudging and cajoling from a few of the more assertive guests who want an extra piece - preferably someone who can wither somebody into a prune-like object with eye contact alone, like Rasputin, or my aunt. I, on the other hand, am incapable of intimidating even small woodland mammals. In fact, I'm so extremely sensitive, I apologize for all human contact. I'm sorry if I brush against you on the train, or if my foot touches yours for any reason, or might have touched yours - or maybe a table leg (better safe than sorry!). I'm really the last person you want standing between hungry people and chocolate cake.
For some reason, I wound up on cake duty more often than not, while other people got to portion out spoonfuls from an endless, overflowing supply of peas. For the record, most guests were great to interact with, but it didn't take many pushers and cajolers to start wearing down my already thin skin, and occasionally inappropriate Republican thoughts would break out.
I'd like to think I'm getting better at understanding gratitude and mercy, but it's still an uphill climb. Yay for grace, right?
"He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?" - Jesus, from the Sermon on the Mount