On the Way to Truth... (A Personal Prayer)

...To give service to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowed in prayer....

Mohandas Gandhi

The roles of the 'haves' and the 'have nots' were not that different in the time in which the Mahatma lived, and the lessons taught by those in need were not wasted on him; Like many great spirits before and since, he came to see the oppressed and the needy as higher beings and serving them as a pathway to enlightenment.

I want to be like this.

The concept of service through sacrifice was enunciated clearly by Mother Teresa, when she said her journey was to find Christ and serve him, despite all of his disguises.

That she searched for him among the poor, the needy and the destitute is a clue to who she was, and the blossoming of her life was captured in her words - "A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, must empty ourselves. The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace."

What is this life for if not to serve?

Of what value the world if we know not both the pain and the joy of sacrifice?

I have been blessed to be a part of a growing movement of people who know both the joy and the pain of giving and doing and who go on with little desire for self promotion or even recognition for the work they do.

These people humble me daily and make me want to be more, do more, give more until I feel at least worthy to sit among them.

As a writer I live in words, I see and think in words, hoping always to capture everything before me and preserve them for all time; I want to be guided and defined by the words of the Buddha - "Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds."

Along the road of discovery i have learnt some hard to bear truths; that the real journey of self development is not development but consciousness, and that ego is the death of the truly authentic self.

That when I claim ownership of what I do I make rock out of mist and consign it to the earth instead of allowing it to float to the heavens as fragrance to God.

Free me from ego I pray, release me from the desire to define myself by my deeds so that my giving would be pure and free from selfishness.

Make it so that my life, described in silence, may cause others to see the hand of the Master in all that I said and did along the way.

Grant me humility even as you give me responsibility, teach me the purpose of my blessings as I too seek you out.

Amen