Ethicall will #3..Servanthood

This is an extremely difficult subject for a feminist to tackle, but I am going to try to sort out what I mean and why it is important, because I do believe the best life is to be found in serving others.

As a feminist my thought process was always "damn if I am going to take the servant role; that's been the problem for women forever. It's time to stand up for me and let my needs come first for a change!" And there is a legitimate need to take care of yourself and tend to your own needs. But the primary reason that it is important is so that you have the ability to nourish others. It is not a goal in itself but rather a means to achieve a more important goal.

There is no question in my mind that the good life is in serving others. We know that as a mother and grandmother and even sometimes as a wife! Admit it...isn't it more fun to give gifts than to receive them? I have always liked Scott Peck's definition of love, "The will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth." Nothing to do with emotions or feelings.

In fact, the real challenge of putting others first is to do so when you don't feel loving. And it's easier to love those we like or those who think like us or those we choose to spend out time with because they make us feel good or make us laugh. But that's not the heart of serving others.
The real test is treating those we don't particularly like with the same extending of one's self, the same nuturing of that other's spirit.

And for me that is what is important about being part of a church community.I can be sure that there will be those for whom I do not feel loving or particularly like but as a community of faith I am committed to encouraging that person's growth as well as my own.