How to Serve the World in One Word

Love.  It's that simple.  It doesn't matter who you are, what you do or don't do, your back story, or your front story for that matter, we can all help save the world.  By being loving.

Great.  That's a nice easy answer, job done!  And, if you're anything like me, you may be thinking, 'But what the heck does that mean?'  Well, one thing I have learnt recently, which has helped me enormously, is that it does not mean that you have to feel love flowing through your heart continuously.  I can't tell much self-inflicted shame and failure I have felt for not feeling more love; what kind of spiritual disciple am I?! It has been a tremendous relief to let that idea go. 

What divine being would want us to feel trapped and belittled by any idea, anyway, much less a so-called spiritual idea? 

So it's not so much about the feeling, as it is about the intent and the 'beingness'.  Stating our intent to be loving every morning is a useful  practice, I find, because it reminds of my personal foundation stone, the Thing That Matters Most To Me. 

As I go through my unremarkable days, I try to remember to treat others with kindness, respect and acceptance.  Of all of these, I think acceptance matters most because it honours the journey of everyone else, it births love's gifts of kindness, compassion, tolerance and forgiveness. 

We fight what we can't accept; when we can surrender judgement and trust that, for better or worse, everyone else is doing the very best they can in that moment, we move into acceptance and then the fruits of love can flow.  After all, have we all not made mistakes?  Even mistakes that others saw coming a mile off?  We feel valued when others accept us, life-gaffs-and-all; that's why acceptance is Love's midwife.

We are all, beneath the surface, longing to be seen, to be accepted and to be valued for who we are.  If we can give that gift to another, we are sharing love.  This simple - but not always easy! - practice allows us to create Heaven on Earth one moment at a time, one person at a time.  And a world filled with people who feel seen, appreciated and respected will indeed be paradise.

When Love Flows, Life Flows.