to serving the earth can be found in the old expression: "Give me a lever long enough and I can move the world." We wonder what that action or set of actions is that can actually shift the course of history. Is the secret in using the longest lever? Not entirely. The secret is in what's missing from that quote, which actually said, "Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I can move the world."

We call that place to stand "service." The dictionary definitions of service include "contribution to the welfare of others" and "a helpful act, a good turn." To which we have added: Service is giving back to Life the gift of life -- with interest.Service is the natural impulse to care for what we recognize is connected to us, for what we see is part of ourselves. Service is doing whatever is needed and wanted, through our talents and capabilities, to create a healthier planet, to create more of a sense of oneness among people as well as between people and th  rest of the living body of earth. Service is relieving suffering wherever you find it. In broken bodies.  In troubled minds. In empty bellies. In empty lives. Service is love made manifest. Service is where we come from, as well as what we do. It is right attitude and right action, and both need to be fully engaged for us to be effective. Attitude precedes action, and allows you to see what to do. Attitude is also the first key to going from being a sprinter to being a long-distance runner who can sustain action over the long haul.

We've known for a long time that compassionate action and service to others is necessary. How "in the world" do we so often manage, generation after generation, day after day, moment after moment, to overlook this?Part of the answer lies in our own low estimation of ourselves. We feel  inadequate. We question Life's wisdom in selecting schmucks like us toaccomplish such an awesome task as saving the planet. But the earth is too precious, her situation too urgent, to leave in the hands of professionals. All hands are needed. Our hands. We are beyond the age of hierarchies where experts weave solutions while the peasants sleep. We feel afraid. Afraid of losing all we have built up -- our possessions, prestige, position, preferences. We plead for a bit more time to get ready for the journey into unknown territory -- just one last fling! One more workshop, one more academic degree, one more session with the therapist, one more trip to Hawaii . . . then I'll be ready. We feel small, powerless, impure, unready. But as personalities, we will never be pure enough, we will never be ready. Yet we must begin. How? If we recognize ourselves as part of a larger whole, the entire picture shifts. We are  not this unfolding that is already whole. We don't need to change ourselves, we just need to change our address, our place to stand. We need to stand in service. When we do, we see opportunities where before there were only obstacles.  We find hidden talents and hidden reserves of energy. We begin to know ourselves as sufficiently creative, noble, industrious, wise and wily to get the job done. Through  relationship with all of life -- how we "fit," what we're "fit for" and what choices are "fitting."

Service to others and to the planet provides the perfect tempering environment wherein individuals of real mettle are forged. It is the obvious and essential follow-through for people who have taken the first step of personal lifestyle change. The beauty, magic, poetry and economy of service is that it works either way: If we expand our affinities, our boundaries and our understanding of who we are, we naturally and effortlessly want to increase our service. We are more generous, more kind, more "out there," more passionate in championing causes we care about. At the same time, a commitment to service naturally expands our horizons. Just a small extension of caring, with no concern for recognition or gain, opens a bit wider the channel into our hearts. And our love increases, our hearts open further, as we risk ever bolder acts of caring and concern.

The secret, then, is to be willing to step out into the unknown -- to direct one's doings toward the highest vision one can see, ignoring the rational mind's attempts to impose limitations based on current skills, aptitudes or credentials. Do it, and the necessary faculties will come. AsMahatma Gandhi said: "Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us doe  render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger,and will make not only for our own happiness, but that of the world at large."

The only requirement in service is that your heart stay open and your focus stay on the good of the whole. Eventually the dance becomes an upward spiral -- serving creates greater clarity and maturity, which leads to even more effective contribution. There is a joy in interacting with life from a stance of service that opens up the kind of energy we experience when we are in love. In fact, we are in love! It's this love for Life itself that allows us to go from sprinters to long-distance runners. And remember, you can accomplish anything if you are willing to take credit for nothing.

From the desk of:  GraceWatcher@aol.com