The other

Some times I wonder if the world would be a better place if we simply looked to serve our fellow human beings instead of serving ourselves.  I'm fairly confident that we would have a more peaceful, harmonious existence if we took the advice of an ancient Rabbi named Jesus when he said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!"  I'm positive life would be amazingly great if we as people made ourselves available to be available, even when it's inconvenient.  

I'm currently at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii visiting my son and daughter-in-law.  As I've had some time to chill, I've been working through some thoughts that I haven't been able to reconcile.  Namely, thoughts of why our society is seemingly spiraling out of control with terrible acts of violence.  For instance, we had the theatre tragedy in Colorado a number of months ago, we witnessed the Oregon mall shooting on CNN, most of us shed plenty of tears when we were informed of the Connecticut Elementary School shootings, and most recent, the terrible act of horror at the Boston Marathon.  

I just have to wonder what would this place we call earth be like if we all took on the form of serving 'the other' first, considering the needs of others more important than our own and, being proactive to simple be there and be ready.  John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement once wrote, "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the time you can, to all the people you can, as long as you even can."  

I know full well that all we can do is what we do when we do by how we do; in other words, we can only impact our very own sphere of influence.  My good friend, retired cop Richard, always reminds me that we have a fifty foot radius around us.  He adamantly encourages me to impact that fifty feet with passion, rigor and impact.  There's a Greek word for this and it's called Oikos.  This ancient word means that each of us have 8 to 12 people we live life with.  The question, then, is what will we do with that 8 to 12 people we live life with? Will we serve, encourage and help them?  Or, will we wait for them to serve us?  That same Rabbi Jesus articulated 2,000 years ago that he came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. At our church in Morro Bay, we have a saying that does like this, "Don't come to church to be blessed - you come to be a blessing!"

I recently read a book by Rick Warren on serving others.  He states that servants are those who:

* make themselves available

* pay attention to the needs of others

* do every service with equal dedication

* are faithful, humble and reliable

* think more about others than themselves 

The list goes on, but I think you get the point.

As 2013 is almost half over, I propose that we commit to the next 7 months to serving 'the other'.  I'm not sure what that looks like for you, but I think if we take the simple advice of the aforementioned, perhaps our world will be a better place (at least it will in our neck of the woods).

I close this note with a story of a young nun, who in 1950, received a call within a call.  Mother Teresa wrote in her memoirs that she felt God telling her to go to the poorest place on the earth and give her life away to the poor.  Well, she went to Calcutta and as the saying goes, the rest is history. When we hear of Mother Teresa, we immediately hear servant, we remember a woman who made herself available, paid great attention to the needs of others, was totally dedicated, faithful, humble and reliable; was one who is defined as thinking more about 'the other' than herself.  

Who knows, if we simply infuse into our life these principles just maybe, maybe life would be that much more meaningful and purposeful.  

Thanks for listening - now go find some one to serve, help, come alongside and be available ...

Randy