“OUR REAL PURPOSE” – “Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us.” (The Big Book, p. 77)
“The principle of service … is not a passive principle. To be of maximum service to the still-suffering addict, we must energetically seek to carry our message throughout our cities, towns, and villages. (It Works, How & Why, p. 152)
“Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.”
– Buddha (563 B.C. – 483 B.C.) ancient Indian spiritual teacher
Buddha’s 14 Principles of Human Life (2:00)
I”m Sorry – Brenda Lee (3:22)
Step 8 – Writing a List Meditation (5:31)
How have you been of maximum service, lately?
Summary of Where Love Is, God Is
by Leo Tolstoy
“There is a story about a cobbler written by Leo Tolstoy. The cobbler was living alone as his last son died when he was just 12 years old. He was a very pious person and whenever he got tired he was reading about god. One day he had a dream in which god came to him and said that he will visit the cobbler the next day. The cobbler started looking through his door next day morning when he saw an old man walking in the snow with great difficulty. He took the old man inside and gave him hot soup to keep him warm.
The old man thanked him and left.
Then he saw an old lady selling apples and a small lad tried to steal the apples. He called the young lad and advised him not to steal and gave him the message and paid the old lady for the stolen apples. Then helped a soldier’s wife who was carrying a child. He gave the child some clothes and gave the young woman some food. Thus throughout the day he was busy helping someone or other. He soon felt tired and fell asleep and in his dream he saw god. He asked god I was expecting and you didn’t turn up why? God immediately replied….I came in many forms as the old man, as the old lady, the young lad, as the Child and its mother. You helped me by helping them all.” (http://www.english-for-students.com/the-hands-that-serve-are-holier-than-the-lips-that-pray.html)
Being of maximum service is a commitment many of us would say represents one person helping another and while that is valuable and an act of good service, we sometimes forget that we must also be of maximum service to yourself. As of lately, the focus has been on me and my self preservation. I have been revisiting an old show and watching the episodes for hours at a time and while that does not seem like it’s of any service, to me it is. I have been hanging out and talk with people late into the night and worrying about my college applications that need to be done soon and I don’t think I realized it until now, but I have been trying to give myself a break. I’ve been revisiting a show I love dearly to give myself some sense of normalcy and be of maximum service to myself. It’s really hard to do that sometimes because, especially people like myself, want to be perfect at everything an be able to help everyone and never need to blink or sleep, but that’s not good at all. We all need time to recover and I guess, this is my time to give myself the maximum service I try so hard to give to others.
FEATURED POST FROM THE ZONR VAULT – “Being of service can become a teaching lesson when I am tempted to become resentful. Once I accepted the secretary position for a meeting; the commitment turned into a three-year gig. Eventually I was recovered enough to resign and allow someone else the privilege of being of service. I learned not to allow myself to accept unreasonable duties in the interest of someone else’s recovery; I learned service is a gift to myself and others.” (Margot, 11/25/2012)