Not to him who walks
on, with no obstacles in his way, but to him that overcometh is the promise
given….And the overcoming is never the overcoming of the one who troubled you,
but the overcoming of the weaknesses and wrong in your own nature, aroused by
such a one. - “God Calling” by Two Listeners
That thought is put to the test and proven when one
does service work, when one serves others. When one’s chief concern is not how
to get, but how to give, one is much more open to the feelings of others,
to their cares and concerns.
When service is given simply for the joy of serving…and
there is joy in serving…resistance seems almost non-existent. However, when
service is given as a duty, and not a happy duty, resistance seems to
rule.
My great aunt was a nurse and a very good nurse…she loved
nursing. Since there was no advertising as such in the early 1900s, news of her
services was passed on by word of mouth. She always had as many patients as she
chose to accept.
Her sister, my grandmother, also trained to be a nurse. She
hated it. She just had the worst luck with her patients…they were all
demanding, nasty and mean into the bargain.
Many years after they had both retired (and my grandmother
was still complaining about her patients), my dad told us that her problem
wasn’t the patients, it was her refusal to accept that she was dealing
with herself. I wondered at the time what he meant.
I have since learned that what we see is always ourselves.
Until we overcome within ourselves that which is putting us off in others,
we’ll spend a lot of time finding fault with over there (you), making excuses
for right here (me)…and being unhappy.
Thank You.
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