April 26, 2007

Comfort


We give comfort
and receive comfort
sometimes at the same time...

(Thanks Jennifer for giving me this card!)

I'm preparing this morning for our hospice class, Being of Service, and I want to share some quotes from In the Service of Life by Rachel Remen MD
1. Serving is different from helping. Helping is based on inequality; it is not a relationship between equals.
2. When we help, we may inadvertently take away from people more than we could ever give them; we may diminish their self-esteem, their sense of worth, integrity and wholeness.
3. Helping incurs debt. When you help someone they owe you one. But serving, like healing, is mutual. There is no debt. I am as served as the person I am serving. When I help I have a feeling of satisfaction. When I serve I have a feeling of gratitude.
4. I think I would go so far as to say that fixing and helping may often be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul.
5. Over time, fixing and helping are draining, depleting. Over time, we burn out. Service is renewing. When we serve, our work itself will sustain us.
6. Lastly, fixing and helping are the basis of curing, but not of healing.

I constantly ask myself, am I helping or serving.
Am I operating from my heart or my ego?
It's so easy for me to slip into the "it's all about me" mode!
Have a great day.



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