April 9 Daily Devotional

April 9 (Wednesday – Serving)

• Scripture: Galatians 6:2 – Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.
• Reflection: Why do we serve others? Because we are connected. The Christian concept of agape love, a sacred love that cares for all beings in a profound and boundless way, remains rooted in reciprocity and inter-connectedness. We aspire to tap into this sense of relationship, though it most wholly expressed by Godself.
  Agape love has echoes in other traditions, and motivates practitioners’ to the spiritual practice of care service to others. Consider this reflection from the Buddhist spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hahn: “About thirty years ago I was looking for an English word to describe our deep interconnection with everything else. I liked the word “togetherness,” but I finally came up with the word “interbeing.” … we cannot be by ourselves, alone. “To be” is always to “inter-be.” … We inter-are with one another and with all life. There is a biologist named Lewis Thomas, whose work I appreciate very much. He describes how our human bodies are “shared, rented, and occupied” by countless other tiny organisms, without whom we couldn’t “move a muscle, drum a finger, or think a thought.” Our body is a community, and the trillions of non-human cells in our body are even more numerous than the human cells. Without them, we could not be here in this moment. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to think, to feel, or to speak. There are, he says, no solitary beings. The whole planet is one giant, living, breathing cell, with all its working parts linked in symbiosis … We do not exist independently. We inter-are … Everything relies on everything else in the cosmos in order to manifest—whether a star, a cloud, a flower, a tree, or you and me.” Another member of the Plum Village community observes, “This teaching illustrates the practice of interbeing, in which we are intrinsically aware of our deep interconnectedness to all beings. We understand that because of interbeing, our fates are intimately bound together and when one of us suffers, we all suffer. At the same time, when one of us responds selflessly to suffering, we all benefit from that act of kindness. From this place, compassion and generosity can flow effortlessly.”
  Serving others can be a vocation. Or it can be a volunteer role. When we choose to help or support each other, we are putting our faith into action. As mentioned in other entries, part of the characteristic of healthy service as a professional or a volunteer includes having balance. Service, while exhausting at times, ought to also provide a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Monitoring that when we serve each other, we maintain a pace and equilibrium that remains sustainable, and does not tip over into creating anxiety, stress, burnout, or other harmful emotions (in disproportionate quantity). God wants us to stay centered, to stay grounded, and be able to be present to ourselves and others for the long haul. In this sense, self-care becomes part of how we offer our time and energy and compassion to others.
• Spiritual Practice Prompt: Identify a way you are interconnected with others. Use those relationships to be of service, or acknowledge that you are already doing so. What circles of belonging connect you to others? What communities or affinity groups claim your time? Which of these require service from you or provide service to you? Be mindful of interconnectedness, and the ways in which you receive goodness and wellbeing, by offering yourself in service to others, or receiving the gift of service from others.

Song:

• Love Will Take You Places by Ed Gokey:https://youtu.be/iN2RsCDiawM?si=PhhcgydJmxwgcS8c