Appreciate Every Opportunity to Serve the Divine
Every opportunity to serve the divine is precious, no matter how big or small or where it comes from. We can use our body, wealth, and mind to serve God and the Guru. If for some reason we are unable to directly serve the Guru with our body, we can surrender our wealth in his service. If we are unable to serve with our wealth, we can perform mental service. Shree Maharajji even says that service with the mind is the highest form of service.
Service is an expression of love. It also increases the feeling of humility, since we practice putting God and Guru before ourselves. God is not concerned as much with our capacity to serve as He is with the love imbued in our service.
There is a beautiful story in this regard.
When the bridge of stones was being built for Lord Ram to cross over to Lanka, many monkeys joined the effort. It was hard work to build the bridge – the monkeys brought down heavy stones from the mountain and carried them into the ocean. Seeing the monkeys, a little squirrel also decided to join the effort. It did not have the strength of the monkeys, so it contributed sand and tiny pebbles. One day a monkey carrying a large rock found the squirrel in his way. He bellowed, “What are you doing? Get out of my way!”
The poor squirrel looked up at the monkey frightfully and replied, “I am helping build the bridge. I am sorry to be in your way!”
Hearing this all the monkeys laughed loudly and exclaimed, “Can’t you see that the bridge requires large rocks? How can you help? Stay out of the way!” The squirrel tearfully pleaded, “I want to help build the bridge with larger stones but I have no strength, only love for Lord Ram. Therefore, I am carrying pebbles.” Saying so, it continued carrying pebbles. The monkeys angrily flung the poor squirrel out of the way, directly onto Lord Ram’s lap.
Lord Ram picked up the tiny squirrel tenderly and explained to the monkeys, “The sand and pebbles brought by this little squirrel are filling the gaps in between the large stones and making the bridge stronger. Your strength or what you do is not important, only the love with which you serve matters. This squirrel has love.” Saying so he stroked the squirrel lovingly with three fingers. Legend has it that this is the reason squirrels have three stripes on their backs.
We must not be disappointed when we don’t have as much of an opportunity to serve the divine as others. Such thoughts are a reflection of the ego and demonstrate lack of humility. No service is big or small when it comes to God. So no matter what our role is, we must perform it with love and dedication. It is a matter of great fortune to be able to do even a tiny thing to please God and Guru.
In the words of Swami Mukundananda, “Opportunities that come our way to accomplish something for the pleasure of the Lord, are a very special blessing”.
