TEALarbor stories’ Monday Musings are quotes, mantras,
reveries, practices…offering simple ways to explore the ecotone of the
inner/outer landscape.
On the occasional
fifth Monday of the month, my offering will take the shape of a globally
sustaining practice: something that benefits all beings.
The Practice is: Service to
Others
I bristled earlier this morning when I read (again) on
social media: “I aspire for more financially, so that I can give to others.” I
don’t understand this limitation and fixation on material wealth in terms of
offering ourselves to another.
Of course we don’t need to have a particular income in
order to give freely to others.
How can we come to recognize
what is enough?
How can we learn to
give no matter what?
1.
We
have many gifts to offer that have nothing to do with economics.
…skills, an otherwise unscheduled hour per
week, a kind word and smile, the ability to deeply listen to another, a piece
of fruit off our tree…
2.
We
can come to recognize those moments that others experience as gifts from us.
…the ways people are drawn to us, those
things for which we are thanked, what we’ve done just prior to somebody smiling
or hugging us…
3.
We
can commit to a practice of offering something to another.
…time, help, a small goodie, a handmade
greeting card, a phone call…
4.
We
give out of a full, whole self.
…out of our realization that we have “enough”
(and often, much more than just what
is necessary to sustain our mental, emotional, spiritual and physical selves);
out of our places of abundance; out of our good-heartedness to help somebody
else with no expectation of reciprocation…
No matter how much you do or don’t “have” (physically,
materially), it is enough… because we
give out of an inner reserve. Making a practice of giving to others no matter
the current conditions of our outer lives, is really a practice of seeing where
we have abundance in our inner landscapes.
A few examples I've experienced include:
·
A disabled man in chronic pain and on welfare
regularly makes phone calls during which he tells jokes and funny stories to
humor the listener.
·
A breast cancer survivor offers her written
stories of recovery for free. She guides for a nominal donation an experience
of life coaching that supports those currently undergoing life/death passages
(chemo, surgery, etc).
·
A shut-in elderly woman makes beautiful artwork
that she gives away to passersby.
·
A homeless war veteran plays a simple no-lose
game with strangers (“guess which hand…”) and then offers the person a shiny,
new, beautiful, interesting clothing button and his smile as he says, “You won!”
We have an almost automatic reaction to service which
propels us to name all the reasons we can’t offer ourselves to others (human and
nonhuman beings); I believe if we dig just a little bit deeper we will find all
they ways that we can!
What committed practice will you make to serving your
community, to serving others, to offering kindness, to making more beautiful
this planet and her beings?
All blog images created &/or photographed by Jennifer J. Wilhoit unless otherwise noted. Please circulate images with photo credit: "©2014 JenniferJWilhoit/TEALarbor stories. AllRightsReserved."
