To live a life of service...

Surrender.
Lead.
Inspire.
Moving from self-to-service.

I imagine that nearly everyone has dreamt about living a life of service. We want to contribute our life to serve humanity, to serve something greater, for generations to come. Too often, we get bogged down by money and life circumstances to awaken, to know our dreams as possible and perhaps even, a part of our destiny to fulfill. At the root of our futile dreaming is a belief that we are separate from God and therefore, incapable of being greater than we are. We believe we can not contribute, we forget to trust in God's grace, the light that is always seen within even the darkest corners of our being.

In leadership training this weekend, Terces and Matthew Engelhart talked about surrendering to living a life of service. To living a life of "we" rather than "ego" (me, mine, I). They acknowledge that the key to doing this is to stay inspired, to do whatever it takes to generate inspiration from within our being and then to build community that creates and supports the vision, the dream.

"Live your life from the pure inspiration of service..."

What would it be like to completely be of service? What is it "I" would want to give my life to?

Ironically, Martin Luther King has been popping up in my mind lately and today, a turkey, the medicine of self-less service, stopped me while I was driving in Berkeley today! I imagine that spirit is calling me or us to ponder the question longer, to keep our eyes open for what it is that we would want to give our life to.

Quotes by Martin Luther King:

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.
Martin Luther King, Jr.