Still on duty?

 In Service

But to whom, and for what?

"For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."

                                                        Galatians 1:10

When we are born, our service is to learn. We learn from our parents, hopefully the lessons we learn from them are about love and respect in service to not only our parents, but also ourselves. Sadly this is not always the case, some parents do not show their children the love they deserve because they themselves have never learned to love anyone else. More on this later.

As we grow we learn from those with whom associate, what we learn from them is directly related to what they have learned from their parents; hopefully they have at least learned respect for others.Upon entering school we learn from out instructors, this may be the first time that we are learning outside the home in service to not only ourselves but for society. What I mean by this is I believe that what we learn in classrooms at all levels of education should help us to improve the society we live in. However, some lessons learned in school are not sincerely taught for the betterment of our fellow man. There are no classes directly related to kindness, respect, understanding and love.

After graduation from school, at whatever level we attain, we are expected to enter the workforce and apply our knowledge in service to our fellow man. Some will go into the technology fields, others into healthcare, and some to the services to man at the "ground" level. What I mean by ground level is those who work directly with the public meeting needs such as providing meals in restaurants, stocking shelves in various retail outlets providing the goods needed for daily lives, or perhaps manufacturing the things that are put on those shelves. Each of us is in service to our fellow man in someway or another.

Some will search throughout the courses of their lives for the "perfect" job, often without success. For instance, the first job I had was in fast food service, but I wanted to do something that in my mind would mean something to my fellow man. Hence, I joined the Army, probably at too young an age to understand what military service was all about, but I did it anyway. After completion of my active duty service I went back to food service as a major endeavor while still serving my country in the Army Reserves and eventually finishing my first round of service in the Army National Guard. 

But this isn't about me. Each person makes decisions, and as is the course for all humanity, things either go right or wrong. Then the question becomes how do we course correct. Some will chose positive courses and not give up, while others will go in a completely opposite direction. Sliding into what can become a seemingly endless downward spiral. 

Choices for service can be to either serve in a manner that glorifies themselves or they can choose to glorify others. Some may even take on the work that glorifies God. There are many ways to do this. Enter the clergy in their chosen religion, become someone who works inside the church by seeking to do good for God in their community by feeding the homeless, volunteering in community shelters, working with the under privileged or perhaps getting a degree in a treatment field and working within that field to uplift the broken spirit of their fellow man. 

Personally, I am grateful for those who choose to work in the fields that aid in finding that which we have lost or neglected, such as the addiction recovery field. It was through a 12 step program that I got sober, It was through the counseling of a pastor that I found my way to God, and back again after relapses. It was through the influence of these two types of counselors that I began studying addictions treatment and eventually began counseling  and teaching life skills to drug addicted youth.

Today, I am retired, clean and sober, and use my free time to study the Bible, attend church, and post in this blog. The reason I post in this blog is not to brag on myself, I use my blog to point out things that I feel are neglected or ignored outright. I try to cover topics that most people are uncomfortable talking about. These include but are not limited to religion and politics. 

Religion is covered because to me it is the single most important topic that isn't covered in the news, unless someone is being sued for not baking a cake, or holding onto their religious beliefs in a manner that affects the life of another in a way that is deemed hurtful or harmful. Politics, because at this point in our history we have government overreach into the aspects of our daily lives which I feel are unnecessary. I believe that politics should not become involved in healthcare. Courts should not decide which medications should be made available for healthcare. These are choices best left up to families and medical professionals.

My goal is to uplift man by speaking truth to perceived earthly powers while shining a light of the words and works of He who created all. Pointing to God and not man as the true Supreme Court who passes judgement on all, without exception for who has money and who doesn't. There is no earthly power (man) who can take the place of God, and in my opinion only a fool would try. 

Food for thought, that is if you are hungry. Peace. 

Afterthought:

What we serve and why we serve can determine a lot in a persons life. Service to man while helpful to some can come to nothing if God is left out of the equation. Service to God will lead to service to our fellow man to teach them how to live. Remember, give a man a fish and you feed him for a meal, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a life time. Jesus said "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

God bless.