At last year's retreat, we arranged for over 75 young adults to volunteer at locations as varied as a soup kitchen (organized by our Sai center to feed over 250 people each Saturday), a children's hospital, a nursing home, and a "halfway home" juvenile correctional facility. As part of the group doing service at the juvenile home, I had the opportunity to experience firsthand what Swami refers to as the "brotherhood of humanity."

The way we discovered this service project was itself a small miracle. We were looking for an opportunity to meet local youth who had prior problems with the law or had been ostracized as "trouble" or as "bad elements" for crimes committed during adolescence. A number of promising leads quickly evaporated as institutions wanted to perform extensive background checks before allowing us to visit or simply had scheduling conflicts that weekend. Less than two weeks before the retreat, one member of our group received information about the "T House" (so called to maintain confidentiality), a transitional home for young men ages 13-21.

The young men at T House had committed crimes in the past and completed sentences in the state juvenile jail. Their stay at T House, usually 3 months long, was their last step in the rehabilitation process before they were allowed to return to their families. For many members in our YA group, this was a unique encounter with youth often stereotyped as thugs or gangsters. Similarly, it was evident the T House boys had not interacted with people from our backgrounds. In other words, it was a match that could only have been made possible by Swami!

After we got to T House, the director asked us to introduce ourselves to the boys and then proceed with the activities we had planned. Normally, the boys are not allowed off the compound except for school or work, so they were excited about our arranging a visit to a local high school field to play American football. We chose this game as it was a good way to get to know the boys while doing something they enjoy, and to subtly introduce human values messages (i.e., consideration for others, teamwork, and sportsmanship). Also, it taught a number of us the meaning of humility, as several of us were struggling to catch our breath against younger teenagers!

After the game, we all returned to T House to cool down before enjoying some cake and ice cream. I had asked the director a few days earlier about any special talents and skills the boys had, and so we all formed a circle (24 residents, plus about 15 Sai youth) to share our experiences. We learned that one of the T House boys was in college, a few more were talented artists, and others were gifted musicians. Because the football game had helped break down barriers of distrust and assumptions, we were able to discuss substantial topics. Also, we played a game by which each person had to introduce someone else in the group and share something unique or impressive about that person. You could see the pride in the faces of each young man as he was introduced by one of his peers - such is the power of positive energy.

Based on my past experience as a juvenile public defender, I knew the boys each had to complete a community service requirement as part of their rehabilitation, so we started talking about helping out in the community and what it means to be a contributing member of society. As Swami stresses in His discourses about Educare, the boys had the "answers" within them and only needed a forum to express their thoughts.

The boys then asked what group we were with and why we came to visit them. In particular, they really wanted to know why a group of us, obviously of different racial, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds from them, would want to spend 4 hours on a Saturday morning at a juvenile home. We mentioned Swami and His teachings about universal human values, the concept of "Hands that help are holier than lips that pray," and trying to see the good (i.e., God) in everyone and treating all as one's brothers and sisters. More to the point, we said we were having such a good time at the Sai retreat that weekend that it would be pure selfishness to not share the energy with our younger brothers at the T House, even though we had not met before.

Before the session got too intense, one of us brought up how much he liked music. I knew a few of the T house boys could "lay down a rap", so I asked if anyone would like to put together a rap song for all of us. We agreed the rap song had to be on a positive theme, preferably about something we learned that morning. Then came the surprise … one of the boys started rapping about the football game, but then turned to the unity of faiths, caring for others, and being around good company. I thought to myself, the beat is different, but this is as moving and true as any bhajan. To top it off, one of the young adults volunteered a rap of his own that echoed the same ideas.

After this episode, we could tell the energy was different, and there were many hugs and high-fives as we were leaving. One of the boys said, "It's like people can send stuff and spend money on us, but you spent time with us - nobody does that! I mean, only our families." He then paused for a second and said, "But it's like y'all said … treatin' everyone like your brothers and sisters." I assured him we got as much out of the experience as they did, and mentally thanked Swami for making the entire event possible.

Swami says that in service the one who serves and the one who is served should be satisfied. The contentment that we youth can experience out of such service projects cannot be found anywhere else.