It should be a joy to be of service to God and to one’s fellow men/women. This has been hammered into me for years in church and CCD classes. But I dislike the term service, since it implies that you are the lesser serving someone who’s better. Obviously being of service doesn’t have to imply you are lesser. But it’s also they way you normally see service transpire.
Lately I keep on hearing the term ‘servant-leader’ like various CEOs pushing the idea they are all about serving their employees. But I don’t believe in leaders who say this, they are supposed to be a servant to the people, but the fact they have been given power most likely makes them feel like others should be serving them and then working on how to stay in power (which could involve actual service but mostly doesn’t. I am the leader of a small team in my company, and while I try to tell myself I am serving I’m also aware we are really serving our own selves. This was especially apparent yesterday where I spent the whole day ‘team-building’ by going to a singing diner, painting pottery, where the main intent is to help us like each other more so we work better together.
The only instance I can imagine joyful service is caring for your children, but is that really a service? I think of it as teaching them until they are ready to stand on their own because you don’t want them to not be able to stand on their own. Your service to them is really about making sure they become the best people they can be. So there’s self-interest there, as well as knowing this is a job you’ve been given in life, and to fail at it, eg to not be of service, would be disgraceful, basically failing at life.
The flip side of serving your children is serving your parents, but most of them time parents don’t want children to serve them. In fact I’m not sure what parents should expect from their children. I look at the natural world and very few animals try to help their parents, it always the other way around. The typical outcome of serving children is to get them to serve the next generation of children, and on and on.
What about service to humanity? This seems meaningful, we’re all servants of humanity, trying to figure out what it means to be human, what we can accomplish as humans, individually and collectively. The idea of being in service to humanity does fill me with joy, because I do want all humans to get better, to prosper and find their own meaning in being alive. So this could be performing all sorts of service, eg actual service, knowing your work might help make this happen.
My mother grew up with live-in servants, like some sort impoverished version of Downton Abbey. And she always discussed it as a necessary thing, that people were so poor you needed to employ them. She never described the servants as particularly happy, and mostly seemed resentful, like why am I in the role and you get to do nothing and be served? I used to feel like nobody should be in service but more and more I recognize it’s better than not having this opportunity to make money. Still, I’ll be much happier when we all have robot servants.
— siobhan
Lately I keep on hearing the term ‘servant-leader’ like various CEOs pushing the idea they are all about serving their employees. But I don’t believe in leaders who say this, they are supposed to be a servant to the people, but the fact they have been given power most likely makes them feel like others should be serving them and then working on how to stay in power (which could involve actual service but mostly doesn’t. I am the leader of a small team in my company, and while I try to tell myself I am serving I’m also aware we are really serving our own selves. This was especially apparent yesterday where I spent the whole day ‘team-building’ by going to a singing diner, painting pottery, where the main intent is to help us like each other more so we work better together.
The only instance I can imagine joyful service is caring for your children, but is that really a service? I think of it as teaching them until they are ready to stand on their own because you don’t want them to not be able to stand on their own. Your service to them is really about making sure they become the best people they can be. So there’s self-interest there, as well as knowing this is a job you’ve been given in life, and to fail at it, eg to not be of service, would be disgraceful, basically failing at life.
The flip side of serving your children is serving your parents, but most of them time parents don’t want children to serve them. In fact I’m not sure what parents should expect from their children. I look at the natural world and very few animals try to help their parents, it always the other way around. The typical outcome of serving children is to get them to serve the next generation of children, and on and on.
What about service to humanity? This seems meaningful, we’re all servants of humanity, trying to figure out what it means to be human, what we can accomplish as humans, individually and collectively. The idea of being in service to humanity does fill me with joy, because I do want all humans to get better, to prosper and find their own meaning in being alive. So this could be performing all sorts of service, eg actual service, knowing your work might help make this happen.
My mother grew up with live-in servants, like some sort impoverished version of Downton Abbey. And she always discussed it as a necessary thing, that people were so poor you needed to employ them. She never described the servants as particularly happy, and mostly seemed resentful, like why am I in the role and you get to do nothing and be served? I used to feel like nobody should be in service but more and more I recognize it’s better than not having this opportunity to make money. Still, I’ll be much happier when we all have robot servants.
— siobhan
So many great insights. Thank you for sharing. As a senior, I've been surprised and appreciative of the way my children are serving me- not in huge, "Mom needs help because she can't do it herself" ways but in little ways- they are sensitive and care (I guess I did some good mothering). Kinda funny because I don't feel old enough to need help!
ReplyDeleteAppreciate your important meditation on the meaning of service. I hope in the USA we learn to value our workers in "the service economy" because that is the economy being described for us now...before those robots are everywhere.
ReplyDelete