I want to address the idea of being of service. I understand that people tend to have negative connotations about the idea of being of service. They view it as being subservient, defined as:
1. Prepared to obey others, unquestionably.
2. Being less important, subordinate.
And, of course, there is a historical role behind this connotation. In the Roman Empire, there was literally a whole class of people who were "slaves". People who were conquered and thrown into this slave class, meant to carry out the menial work of the society that other citizens wouldn't do. In feudal times, the slave became the serf, the person meant to toil the fields and perform the menial tasks of the manor. Entire families were made serfs, and most serfs lived, worked to make "lord" of the land rich, and died, without traveling more than 15 miles from the place of their birth. And we all know of black men who were taken from their homeland and forced to work the fields to make their white man rich in this new world, where eventually they fought to free themselves from "slavery".
Kings had slaves, elites had servants, and these people were thought of as less. Even today, people like waiters, or busboys, or janitors, or other people who work in the "service sector", are thought of as less. So the idea of "service" inevitably will bring up the idea of being less, of being enslaved, and subservient to the will of others. We have even gotten to a point where people who break the law can be condemned to perform "community service" which is viewed as a punishment!
But there is also another side of service. A more noble side. A side that can be defined as:
1. An act of help or assistance
2. To make fit for use; adjust, repair, or maintain
3. Active devotion to God, as through good works or prayer.
This is the type of service I want to address today. I want to help break the taboo of being of service, because I believe, despite the negative connotations, that all of us, deep down inside, have an inner desire to be of service. Mostly of service to something greater than ourselves. The military uses this inner drive to help recruit it's soldiers, and enlist them to "serve their country" which many are very happy to do, for it touches that desire to serve a higher purpose. JFK's famous call to service where he said "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" was another step further in the art of service. And in the pulpits, we have heard the call to "Spread the word of the Gospel and serve the will of God". To be of service to God and country, has been a great tool for people to fulfill that desire to be of service to something higher than themselves. And it is indeed a noble thing.
We understand the military, political, and religious ideas of service. I now want to add an idea of service that bridges all three, the idea of spiritual service. Service to our fellow mankind. The idea that Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed brilliantly when he said "We have to learn to tear down that mirror that always makes us look at ourselves, so we can see the millions of people who need our help."
And in this world, the value of this service is desperately needed. For around the world, we can see people who are suffering, struggling, going hungry, being abused, feel unloved and unwanted, or are sick and invalid, people who are ignorant and lame, and feel hopeless. To seek to be of service to these people, is the highest call of service. A service that seeks no recognition or monetary reward. A service that isn't based in selfishness, but in selflessness. A service that comes from the heart, from the love and compassion we have for others. This is spiritual service, which seeks to help and be of assistance, so we can repair the condition of humanity, and maintain a world that is fit to live in.
This service stems from an inner desire to serve God and creation. It is a service that stems from our inner desire to grow spiritually, and move beyond selfishness and division, into selflessness and unity. It stems from our inner desire to SHARE OUR LOVE with others who need it. This service of SHARING LOVE, is the most needed service in the world right now!
If world leaders followed their oaths to SERVE the public, and be real public servants, instead of serving their bank accounts and power status, the problems that plague our society would disappear. Paired with this, if police and military sought to SERVE and protect the citizenry, like they are supposed to, the plagues in our society would be a memory. Furthermore, if we all sought to SERVE our families, our communities, our countries, our fellow man, and our God, we would solve all the problems that plague our world today.
Continued in part 2...
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