Theos-Talk Archives (September 1997 Message tl00232)

Lynn (techndex@pacbell.net) wrote:

> As spiritually "noble" as it is to get ones fingers dirty, humanitarian
> causes require money and lots of it. Serving humanity requires meeting with
> dignitaries, writing checks, and attending fundraisers just as much as it
> requires pulling maggots out of wounds. Service, IMHO, is where you find it
> and where you can do your personal best to meet the need in the
> circumstances in which you find yourself. I don't think that we should get
> into diminishing one type of service in favor of another. It's all
> desperately needed.

All these forms of service are necessary.  If a person is doing their best I
would not diminish the least effort.  A child scratching the back of a dog
with love is serving God - and his or her service is equal in the eyes of God
to that of Mother Theresa's, because they both give their best.  The only
thing is if a person is capable of more selfless service than they actually
give.  In the case of Diana, I would *NOT* presume to make any such judgement.

Perhaps I should not have compared Diana and Mother Theresa in any way.  My
point is better stated by talking about the degree of self service versus
selfless service.

The parable of the widow's mite comes to mind.  Wealthy once-a-week
worshippers cast in a great deal of money.  To be sure, that money could
probably have been used to do a great deal.  The poor widow, on the other
hand, cast in two mites, but was deemed by Jesus to have cast in "more".  This
is because those two mites were nearly her whole possessions and contained a
great deal of love.  Evidence of love is how much we are *prepared* to give.

> I don't think that we can diminish Diana's acts of service to checkwriting
> (as important as that is in itself). In the many filmclips they've shown of
> her after her death, I noticed that she almost invariably spontaneously
> touched or held the unfortunate people she visited ...

[snip]

To the degree that she offered more than just a corner of her being, these are
noble and good.  Again, I can't presume to know.  I don't want to be a Diana
knocker.

> How love of God and humanity has become equated with grimness,
> self-inflicted suffering, etc. is beyond me.

And beyond me too.  The key is how much we reserve for our little self and how
much we give in the spirit of service.  We do need to take care of our mental
and physical health to be of use in the world.  Eating well and recreation can
be in service to God rather than for ourselves and they can be joyful.  I'm
not saying it is a sin to enjoy doing anything.  "Sacrifice" has a morbid
meaning to some because it is synonymous with forced, grudging giving.  Giving
can be the most joyful thing we do.