Finding the Sacred In Everyday Life

By Nancy Ballinger

Living on Purpose

Make me an instrument of your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon:
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
Where there is sadness, joy

O divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

                                                                         (13th century saint, Francis of Assisi )

The popular and often quoted prayer of St. Francis is probably the clearest statement of the "what, why, and how" of truly serving others. It reminds us that acting for the welfare of those around us provides an opportunity to move beyond the self-seeking and self-will we all suffer from at times.  It tells us that in helping others, we receive more than we can ever possibly give and are born to a new way of being—living consciously in harmony with Life's purpose.

When we consider various spiritual disciplines, service is often not the first one we think of. Meditation, prayer, sacred chant, and study of holy books are more likely to come to mind. Yet, selfless service (karma yoga) is a potent and complete practice as a path to spiritual awakening. When service is performed from compassion, without desire for reward or recognition, it can be a source of unlimited peace as we expand our hearts and let our divinity emerge. With time and practice, selfless service becomes an indispensable part of the spiritual life as we open to seeing the divine essence in everyone and all of life. This is true compassion, seeing others as ourselves.  

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Christianity

Rendering help to another is the function of all human beings. Jainism

All men & women are responsible for one another. Judaism

Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world;
by devotion to selfless work one  attains the supreme goal of life. Hinduism

The best of men and women are those who are useful to others. Islam

Without selfless service are no objectives fulfilled; in service lies the purest action. Sikhism

We daily face myriad and grave challenges in our world—locally and abroad.  It accumulates as we add them to our own personal concerns and suddenly we feel like we are bearing the weight of the world on our shoulders. We become exhausted—mentally, physically, and spiritually. Without an ongoing spiritual practice to fortify our mind and attitude, we feel hopeless, helpless, and separate from others. Anxiety and depression are two expressions of this seen daily in my spiritual counseling. I often suggest developing a spiritual practice that includes helping others in addition to meditation and prayer. As St. Francis realized, love and consolation can best be found in giving love and consolation to others from a place of heartfelt compassion.

If you have ever been in a position of receiving help from a person or organization that sees you as needy, helpless, or less-than, you know the potential for humiliation and deep sense of seperateness it creates. On the other hand, receiving support from a heart of "we are all in this together" speaks to the truth of our responsibility for one another as brothers and sisters in the family of humanity.  

Years ago, I hiked the John Muir Trail in the High Sierras with my teenagers and their friends. Planning to be on the trail for nearly a month, we shared the job of carrying the supplies we would need for our long journey.

Carrying 50 pounds of food in a backpack was my designated part of the group plan. Since I weighed 125 pounds, I found it remarkably challenging to carry so much weight. Sometimes I really didn't know if I was going to be able to make it through the day.  However, I eventually realized that morning, noon, and evening my backpack became the pantry that fed everyone. By nuturing and sharing food with others—at each meal my load became lighter and lighter!

Another marvelous realization occurred as the days and weeks wore on. Along the trail I found there were boulders just the right height to pause, lean against, and rest the heavy pack. Even though my load wouldn't become lighter, I could rest for a while, regaining the strength and fortitude I needed to go on. And so it is when we are serving, whether a neighbor in need, the literacy council, hospice, our families, at our workplace, or wherever we see a need. Working together to benefit others lightens our load. Pursuing our spiritual practices and realizing selfless-service as a practice provides us with respite for the journey.

 Joanna Macy, in her book World as Lover, World as Self, tells us: . . . grace happens when we act with others on behalf of our world. What can we do to nourish these efforts and strengthen the bodhisattva (compassionate being) in ourselves?  Two ways that I know are external support of community and internal support of a spiritual practice.  I mean practice in the venerable spiritual sense of fortifying the mind and schooling its attitudes. To heal our society our psyches must heal as well.

Meditation and service go hand in hand. In meditation we rest, gain our perspective, find strength to take into the world, and be of service. Serving others as ourselves without attachment to results and seeing our common humanity gives us the vital energy needed on this journey we share to find meaning, lasting joy and fulfillment by contributing to the well-being of others. 

Seek to do brave and lovely things that are left undone by the majority of people.
Give gifts of love and peace to those whom others pass by.
Yogananda

If you are looking for a loving, safe place to find the sacred in everyday life, Reverend Nancy Ballinger offers spiritual guidance counseling. With over 20 years as a licensed marriage and family therapist and studies in Eastern and Western philosophies she brings a unique, open perspective to her counseling. Sliding scale fee.

Rufous Hummingbird image on banner by Mike Baird.