I got a great question from Hayden Tompkins over at Persistent Illusion (a blog I love). The question/comment is:
“So, how are you in daily service? I am very curious to see how you have been called to express the divine.”
To me, answering this question means to flip all ideas of what “service” means. A Course in Miracles is the practice at looking at everything in a brand new way. For years I was in service to my fellow brother. Raising money. Making meals for home-bound people with AIDS. Reading to children in the hospital. Giving out my phone number to anyone who seemed to need help, telling them they could “call me anytime.”
This is what we are taught to believe “service” is. Right? It’s all about helping people. Doing good works. Helping out where there is a need. Giving when we are asked.
Service.
In the dictionary it says “the act of helpful activity, aid, providing, supplying”
You immediately think of other people, right?
One person or company giving to another.
Service also usually implies a block of time – like from 2-4pm on Tuesday and Saturday and every other Wednesday evening. Like there is “service work” and then the rest of your life.
But what is this exactly?
Compartmentalized.
Daily service means every moment of every day. I am glad for the reminder. Real service is in the small details. It’s every day action. The way I treat the gas station attendant. The way I treat myself. The way I treat my cats. The way I answer the telephone. The way I write a letter. The way I am quick to forgive. The way I conduct myself. The way I dedicate my mind to God. True Service.
The funny part is that I don’t actually think anymore in terms of “daily service” or how I express the divine. I don’t think like this anymore.
As far as I’m concerned, I’m just being myself.
My happy helpful self … as God created me.
I am here as the physical demonstration of the Love of God on earth. To “be” the laws of Heaven. Thy Will be Done.
To try to be in service any other way is to think you have something to give to others, rather than realizing you are only giving to yourself. As long as you think there are other people who need help, you are screwed.
This doesn’t sound like very Christian behavior, but if you think there are people who are in worse position than you … YOU are really the one who needs help.
In most movies, you’ll notice that the homeless person or the dying person is an angel in disguise, actually sent in to help you.
The only person that really needs help is me. And the way I help myself is by helping others. And if this sounds like a paradox, it is.
Trying to solve the world’s problems is like putting a band-aid on an amputated arm. The world’s problems are too overwhelming & huge. How much money do we actually have to raise until we find a cure for cancer? To end war? To end hunger? To end sickness? To heal addiction? To heal loneliness? To make our children safe? Every time we solve one problem, another problem is right there already demanding our attention. There is no end.
No wonder Mother Teresa was frustrated.
You try to be “in service” and there’s no end to the insanity.
The only way to solve the world’s problems is to remember there is no world.
Of course, you can’t really know about this frustration until you’ve actually tried to solve the world’s problems as I have attempted to do. Only then will you realize that there is, in fact, no solution in the world.
BUT THERE IS A TRUE SOLUTION. THERE IS SUCH A THING AS TRUE SERVICE. DEDICATING YOUR MIND ENTIRELY TO HEALING.
Getting out of the conflict by aligning your mind with God, which means to be perfectly present in the now where there are no past problems and no future anticipation.
Being in Heaven means to be entirely in this moment, with your full awareness squarely on what is directly in front of you.
Practicing wholeness. Remembering your holiness. Recognizing your perfection.
From this point, you become automatically helpful to everyone and everything.
Underneath the appearance of your body and all your ideas about yourself is perfect innocence, sheer loveliness, no sin, no mistakes, no need for correction. Just pure light.
“You are beautiful, my love, there is no flaw in you.” – Song of Solomon
The world is healed when you smile at a stranger. When you say hello to the cashier and actually make eye contact and really look at them. This is daily service. The world is healed when I’m nice to myself. The world is changed when I listen to someone speaking. The world is healed when I let go of a grievance.
My entire life I’ve worked in the service industry, right down to my college degree which is in hotel/restaurant management. My whole life I wanted to make people happy. To give. To serve.
The only time I’m really satisfied is when I am giving of myself. When my heart is open. When the door to my life is open. But it no longer has to do exclusively with ideas of other people. Now service mean giving myself some quiet time to read the bible or go for a walk.
My light is on a candlestick, and not under a bushel. I’m visible, and if someone needs to find me, or needs a friend, they can reach me directly.
The only real true service is to dedicate your mind to remembering the truth, and to be available. That’s all. It’s much simpler than people would have us believe. Be present. Be available. DAILY SERVICE.
This is what heals the world, because there is no world outside of your thoughts about it.
There are no other people.
There are only your ideas about yourself.
We are going to the CORE of what is real, the cause of everything you see: YOUR OWN THOUGHT SYSTEM.
Real service is where you catch every thought as it crosses your mind and look at it. See if it is judgment. See if it is truth. See if it is looking as if there was a world of separate bodies. See if it reminds you of your own wholeness.
Real service, true service, is being in the constant recognition of yourself as WHOLE, meaning that you see everything as ONE with you.
Then “service” becomes automatic because suddenly you recognize that everything you see is you, so you give freely and fully because you know yourself.
So how am I in daily service?
I can’t even begin to count the ways. I’m grateful upon waking. I give my full attention to my cats who are walking all over me. I say a morning prayer. I read A Course in miracles. I read the bible. I check my e-mail and really focus on what’s being written. I write something on this blog and give it 100% of my attention and love. I stay in the moment. I remember how much has been given to me. I remember how much I have to give.
And this is all before 7am.
Would most people call this service? Probably not. People want to say, but how do you help others?
I just told you. I’m nice to myself. True Service. I remember God. I recognize you as a perfect part of myself. Daily service.
It’s in the small details.
Facebook comments:
Daily acts of kindness and joy. They can never be too small.
the thing is: …is still see other people… i still think there are other beings out there…
i know, conceptually that this is not so…but
so as long as i still perceive them as being real i think there is nothing wrong about helping other people..in fact a very selfish thing anyway hahaha because it simply makes me feel good
sometimes i do get so caught up with all these spiritual concepts, as i call them.
the simple reminder of Jesus’ message : just love..love ..Love !!! is a relief
And yeah you are right, it is so in the small details, no big world peace projects to worry about… (then again, the light of a small candle can take away the darkness…so what’s small , what is big?)