OUR SPIRIT OF SERVICE

What if you could easily be open to, seek out, and take opportunities to do things for others – to contribute to the greater ease or benefit of people, including you?

“We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty but because they embody the spirit of service: a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment – a moment that will define a generation – it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.”

– President Barack Obama

 

Peter and Lindsey tell us they dream of having three children. But these dreams must wait – for a while. First, the Navy serviceman for six years, now in the Army with extremely dangerous duty, is serving his country again. “Get to serve,” Peter stresses.

Before departing for his next military assignment, Peter works at a treatment center for delinquent boys. He feels frustrated because he believes it’s his duty to protect these boys. “It’s not fair if we don’t help them. If we send them back out into society not healed.”

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I remember first meeting Peter and Lindsey in the reptile aisle of our local PetSmart, during a summer break in my travels. When we had our turtle, Mattie. They had turtles, too. Peter first spoke to Jim, asking if we had a turtle; did we need help?

Peter and Lindsey were buying food and gifts for their aquatic pair.

We told them we were “new parents” and not quite sure what to do. Within minutes, Peter had offered to help Jim build a pond in our backyard for Mattie, and had given us his cell number, offering to provide turtle counsel along the way.

We would then bump into them in our city of more than one million three more times, in random places, over the next several months.

Before I hit the road again, Peter and Lindsey would come visit us with gifts: a “Guardian Angel” self-defense tool and a tiny toy soldier to further protect me on my journey.

On Mt. Lemmon

Making New Friends

Later, in another break in my travels, we bump into Peter and Lindsey at an outdoor neighborhood cafe. While we all immerse ourselves in coffee, hot eggs, and conversation, Peter noiselessly rises and glides across the restaurant to the curb to open the outside gate for two elderly women before they reach it. Then holds open the door to the cafe for them.

I think of the “spirit of service” I have seen in Peter in the short time we have known them: In addition to his military service, how he seems to be open to, seek out, and take opportunities to do things for others – to contribute to the greater ease or benefit of people without expectation of praise or gain.

Gee, I’d like to be more like that… How can I get there?

I ask Peter if he weren’t able to serve in the military, how would he contribute? “My family. That’s what comes to mind first.” And if he and Lindsey didn’t have a family? “I’d probably work with kids. Teach. I come from a family of teachers.” And if he couldn’t get that job? “I’d find a way. Lindsey’s grandmother is 88. She drives her friends around who aren’t in that good of shape. She takes them places and on errands. She also loves to iron so she does peoples’ ironing! It’s simple to serve in simple ways,” Peter says. “There’s a soup kitchen in every big city.

I think further about what service means to me. Like Peter, does it include serving in my work, with my family and seizing opportunities to make a difference to others I meet along the way?

Lindsey

Eighteen months later, Lindsey comes to our house for dinner. She is pregnant now.

I recall Lindsey telling me about visiting her mom while Peter was away training. Her mom told Lindsey that she’d noticed a change in her daughter since marrying Peter. “You’re more compassionate, kind, loving.  You were always that way; now you’re even more so.”

Lindsey says now her mom strives to be more that way, too.

I feel a swell of hope as Lindsey shares their vision for the kind of home she and Peter want to create: a place where kids come often to spend time. They ring the bell. Peter and Lindsey ask if they have eaten; they say, “Pull up a chair…”

Lindsey tells us that Peter will be home for the birth of their baby. Then, one month later, depart again for his next deployment. “It’s an adventure,” Lindsey says, summoning a courageous smile. “We’ll be fine.”

Lindsey and Peter

 

Firstborn On the Way

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Can we easily expand how we serve not only to encompass our work and significant acts but also our daily interactions with family, friends, and/or strangers? What gifts could this also give us?

Service has been one of the biggest boons in my life – often also elevating me if I feel low.

To start simply, I began by looking at my day and saying, “If there are 6 things I want to accomplish today, which of those can serve others now?” Maybe it’s just calling a friend or colleague and remaining present and empathetic throughout all of our interactions.

Establishing my intent to serve at the onset sets a tone that I want to always have in my life – rather than seeing it as something I have to do. Our lives are a compilation of moments: days add up to months, months become years. I remember what Phillips Brooks said, “Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.”

This is one reason I continue this blog. If I can touch one heart differently, impact one soul…then I, too, like Peter, have noiselessly risen and glided…to open a gate…

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Emmy winning-television producer, author/photographer and coach, Jillian (Robinson) Weaver loves sharing Experiences of the Heart – just for the joy of it ❤️. For short daily doses, join her at https://www.instagram.com/jillianrobinsonweaver/.