Wednesday, Dec 25 2024  

Hands that serve are holier than lips that pray - 17 Dec 2012

I would like to start with the fact that we should always put our heart into both prayer and service, instead of serving just with our hands or praying just with our lips.

Prayer and service are two very good habits that we should cultivate in ourselves. However, we should not stop praying and serve only, as Mother Teresa once said, “The fruit of faith is prayer, the fruit of prayer is love and the fruit of love is service”,which shows that service and prayer complement each other.

Swami himself has said, “Experiencing God is our sole purpose in life”, which can be achieved through experiencing bliss. Service is an easy and relatively simple path to experience bliss, when compared to doing so through prayer. This is so, as prayer requires single-minded focus on God which is difficult in the fast-paced life of today’s world. On the other hand, service opportunities are everywhere, as long as we notice its presence in our day-to-day activities. For example, giving up one’s seat to someone who needs it more than one does; not pushing and shoving while getting around in crowded places and waiting in line patiently for one’s turn, are opportunities to do service. Even the Monday bhajans at the Katong Sai Centre, are an opportunity to do service because we can help set up all the equipment before the bhajans and clear up too after bhajans.

All acts of service should be regarded as an offering to God, and every opportunity to serve should be welcomed as a gift from God. Service must be done with reverence, humility and a sense of responsibility.

Some of the opportunities given to us Group 4 brothers are the Tembusu Home food-packing seva, the Sun Love Home Seva and the occasional Tembusu Senior Activity Centre Seva.

During the Tembusu Home food-packing seva. which is usually on the first Saturday of every month, we, the Group 4 brothers and gurus, pack food items such as rice, crackers, Milo, noodles, oil, etc into bags. Then we transfer these bags from the second floor to the first floor and split them into batches for delivery.

During the Sun Love Home seva, which is usually on the third Sunday of every month, we serve food to the residents there, sing bhajans and entertain them.

During the Tembusu Senior Activity Centre seva, we, theGroup 4 brothers, play games with the elderly and also serve them food. Seeing the elderly people with a smile across their faces, makes us happy too.

By doing the seva, I feel happy, calm and humbled and look forward to the next opportunity eagerly. I also have a sense of self-satisfaction that I am trying my best to follow Swami's teachings. Participating in the Seva, also made me appreciate the small things in life, which we normally take for granted. It also taught me to work as a team to get things done efficiently. By doing service, we humble ourselves. Humility is an important virtue along the spiritual path and John Ruskin, a famous English art critic of the Victorian era once said, "The first test of a truly spiritual man is his humility." I would also like to strongly encourage everyone to fully utilize every opportunity to do service whenever possible. “Hands that serve are holier than lips that pray.”

JAI SAI RAM

Bro Deepan
Group 4