Service ANNIE M. KNOTT, CSD         At this time of the year Labor Day comes to remind dwellers in American cities of the great human problem of service. There are perhaps few who pause to think that we are all either servants or slaves, which means when rightly viewed that all should willingly serve the world in some way, because all must be served; hence our needs are reciprocal. Mrs. Eddy outlines our duty in this respect when she says (Science and Health, p.518): “God gives the lesser idea of Himself for a link to the greater, and in return, the higher always protects the lower. The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father.” This of course deals with spiritual reality, but it furnishes the true model for human relations and when faithfully applied it inevitably leads to harmony.          Those who do not choose to serve but are forced by their own need to do so, are veritable slaves who miss the inspiration which all honest work brings as its highest reward, and it is certain that all work well done leads to higher work. At this point it is well to remember that if we would advance in our work, whatever its nature, we must seek divine guidance and acknowledge God in all our ways, which means that we must express honesty, intelligence, and integrity in all we do. Failing to do this, we shall make slow progress and may be tempted to blame others, when the key to the whole situation is in our own hands. One may be known as an honest and intelligent worker, but if he ascribes power to evil and denies the actual supremacy of divine Principle even in human affairs, he will be virtually sentencing himself to suffer from the injustice of mortal mind by admitting its power over his destiny, and the temptation to do this is sometimes very great.          It is our privilege to be “laborers together with God,” “workers together with him,” to quote St. Paul, and we must be prepared to prove first to ourselves, then to all the world, our worthiness of this high honor. God’s work never fails, not even a word that proceeds out of His mouth returns unto Him void, but accomplishes the thing whereto it is sent, so Isaiah tells us, and if we reflect the activity of the one Mind the same should be true of our words and work. The final test of our work is whether the doing of it ennobles us. If it does, the work itself will bless the whole world, though the worker himself may be unknown.          In Luke’s gospel we read that at the last supper with his disciples Jesus presented his ideal of greatness when he said, “I am among you as he that serveth.” We are told that there had been “a strife among them” as to which of them should be accounted greatest. Then the Master spoke of kingly and lordly authority and the desire of the great ones of earth to be regarded as “benefactors,” and this led up to the words already quoted. Today we may well think upon them as we consider the work of any man, whether high or low in station, that we may determine its value in the light of this Christly ideal of service. The true servant, be he king or commoner, must obey Principle and thus mete out impartial justice, and also mercy, for thus alone can he bless his own time as well as the oncoming centuries.          One may choose to serve self and thus narrow down to the point of extinction his chance of being truly great, but all the time the voice heard by the seer of Patmos is saying, “I know thy works,” and well is it for us if our sentence does not read: “I have somewhat against thee.” If such be the case we cannot too soon discover wherein lies our fault and overcome it. Then we shall be ready to listen again and to hear this: “I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.” Yes, with charity and faith and patience all work will unfold into ideal service, especially if we are willing to scrutinize our own thoughts and acts as does the divine idea, whose eyes are “like unto a flame of fire.” Work and manhood are inseparable, and both should be consecrated to the service of God and humanity.   "Service" by Annie M. Knott, CSD Christian Science Sentinel, September 4, 1915

 

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