Theos-Talk Archives (September 1997 Message tl00243)

Titus,

So we *are* in agreement after all! ;-D Thanks for the very inspirational
reply!
Lynn

At 08:22 PM 9/11/97 -0400, you wrote:
>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.