To Serve Man…

Those of you that are old enough and/or geeky enough will know that this comes from an old Twilight Zone episode. “To Serve Man” was a great episode.

Quick summary…Aliens come to Earth and begin to solve all our world’s problems. They end world hunger and war and everything else. They even give their book of knowledge to a few scientists so that they can start to understand their language. Eventually, they start to offer us humans rides off the planet and back to their homeworld. Well…it ends up that the big book of knowledge titled, “To Serve Man”, is actually a cookbook!

Gotta love it! :-)

But really…what does it mean to serve man?

I think that most people will immediately get an extreme view of serving others. They will focus on the sacrifices that have to be made and even the inconvenience of serving. See…we tend to view most things through that good ol’ negative filter.

Serving is NOT a bad or even difficult thing at all. In fact, it’s one of the BEST ways to show someone that you care and love them. And guess what? It’s probably the cheapest way to express your love for someone! :-)

Service doesn’t mean that you become someone’s slave. Nor does it mean that you become less than yourself and wait on their every whim and desire. No. That’s called slavery and it’s not at all what I’m talking about.

Sure, we all know what the definition of service is. Do we REALLY need to wake up Mr. Webster for this one? No. Service is simply assisting or doing a task for someone else. I know…that’s almost as dry as Webster. But it works.

Now, what’s missing from that definition? Do you know?

The missing part of service that makes it SO important and meaningful is HEART. Service is just work unless you put your heart into it. It’s not an expression of love if you don’t serve willingly with a good heart. If I’ve got to twist your arm and you bitch and moan the whole time…well, I’m NOT going to think that you’re doing it because ya love me. Go figure!

But how far SHOULD you take the idea of serving man? Where should you draw the line and stop?

See…that’s a completely personal call. I can’t tell you, because the line for me will be VERY different from the line for you. Granted, I believe that the world would be an incredible place if ALL people EVERYWHERE went out of their way to serve EVERYONE else, regardless. But hey…while I am an optimist, I’m also a realist. I KNOW that you’re not going to do that. And that’s OK. 

The idea is to do as much as YOU are comfortable with. And as you get MORE comfortable, you serve more. Then, you can start to affect more than just your immediate circle. You can actually start to make a bit of the world a better place.

So start with little things with the people that are closest to you. Find a chore or job that someone you love REALLY doesn’t like doing, and just do it FOR them. Tell your companion to “just relax for the night, you’re off duty.” And then make certain that they CAN relax because you’ve got everything taken care of. If you’re ready to move outward in your service, pick anyone and do something small FOR them, with a smile. :-)

The great thing about service is that YOU can feel good about doing it, for anyone. You can know that in a small way, you’ve made someone’s day a little easier and probably a whole lot brighter. Even if they don’t thank you for it. Remember service is NOT about praise for your work. In fact, sometimes it’s simply awesome to serve and not let those you’re serving even know.

It’s amazing to me how such a little thing like serving another can put a glow in your heart that you can carry with you all the time. The more you serve, the brighter you glow. It’s a good feeling…and one that you can come to like and REALLY enjoy. I know that I do.

So c’mon…let’s take care of each other and glow for a while. :-)