Dr. Erika Chopich is a wonderful role model for me of what it is like to bring service into one's everyday life, and especially during the holidays. The following story illustrates this.

Erika spent a December weekend in Denver with a good friend of hers, attending an event that interested both of them. They were having a snack after the event, warming up from the freezing cold weather, when Erika looked out the window to see a man lying on the sidewalk next to his wheelchair. She ran to a waiter and asked him to call an ambulance. The waiter casually replied, "Oh, this happens every night. These are homeless men who lie on the ground over manhole covers to keep warm. If you look over there, you will see another man doing the same thing on another manhole cover.

Erika was appalled. She immediately ordered burgers, buffalo wings and water to take out to the two men.

When the food was ready, she emptied her pockets, gave her stuff to her friend, and asked him to keep an eye on her.

As she approached the first man (not the one in the wheel chair) she immediately saw that he was a drug addict. "Can you use some food, friend?" she ask him. "I sure could," he answered. After giving him food, she moved on the next man, the one with the wheelchair. She could clearly see that this man was very ill. When she asked him if he wanted food, he looked up at her and asked, "What day is this?"

"December 17th," she answered.

"It's getting close to Christmas," he said, with tears running down his cheeks. "You must be the Christmas angel." Erika's eyes misted up.

"You must be cold," she said. All the man had was a thin blanket. She did not see how he could last the night. "Yes, I'm very cold," he answered.

Right then, without a thought, Erika took off her brand new down jacket and gave it to the man. Then she gave her gloves to the first man. She walked back into the restaurant shivering. The waiters and other customers were lined up at the windows watching her.

The previously cavalier waiter came up to her and apologized. "I guess we have gotten so used to seeing them that we forgot to care. From now on, I will make sure they get water and our leftover food. I will keep an eye on them for you."

Erika could see in the eyes of the other people that they were stunned that she had given away her jacket. But perhaps her act of kindness opened a place within some of them, as it did in the waiter. Perhaps they will think more about what they can offer someone who has so much less than they do.

The next morning Erika saw the man with the jacket sleeping peacefully, a slight smile on his face.

Shortly after returning from Denver, Erika met with a friend for lunch. Right after the lunch, Erika told me that her friend was in financial trouble and in danger of losing his house. "I want to be his Christmas miracle," she said. After going to the bank to cash a check, she drove back to town to where her friend works. Taking him aside, out of earshot of others, she held up an envelope and said gently, "There is $2000 in this envelope. This is not a loan. This is a gift." You can imagine his tearful gratitude.

Erika had realized that if she had loaned him the money, she would have temporarily solved the immediate problem, but would have added stress to an already precarious situation.

This is the way Erika lives her life. She always notices when someone is in need. Whether it's baking bread to welcome a new neighbor, or clearing a driveway of snow when she knows a neighbor is out of town, or bringing homemade soup to an older neighbor who is ill, or stopping on the roadside to help when there is an accident, or picking up a stray dog and finding its owner, or giving encouragement to friends and family, or being a role model of integrity and compassion for the people who work in our barn, Erika does service as a way of life.

There are so many little ways each of us can be doing service. Something as simple as joking with the check out person at the market can bring a smile to a weary face. Erika always brings smiles to the faces of checkers in markets, even when she's wearing a mask. To the waiter in Denver, the homeless men had become invisible, but to Erika, the men were people in need. If we look around us with a desire to serve, the invisible will readily become visible.

Today, with COVID, Erika has created a small community of the young people who help us with the horses and the ranch. Having been trained in infection control, she has trained them to be very safe. They all wear their masks and keep social distance in the barn, but they play music, dance, and enjoy the only in-person social time they can have. They are so grateful that not only do they have a job, but that their job helps so much with loneliness. They have learned much about caring from Erika, and have become deeply caring with each other.

Learn to connect with your spiritual Guidance with Unlocking Your Inner Wisdom, A 30-Day at-home Experience with Dr. Margaret Paul.

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