The importance of service

One of the things I always try to do is give back to the community in which I call home, One of the most important principals to me is of being of service to others, it is at the core of what being a Jedi is, I seek to be of service every day weather it is in my job which i sought out a job that lets me help others every day or in volunteerism. I find that in these opportunities it gives me a chance to help and to learn and to teach. It helps me understand the Jedi code and other teachings i hold dear in a new way.

When I was teaching students one of my favorite lessons was to have the person seek out ways to be of service in there community and write about how they felt about it, what they did and what they learned. I found it to be a good and important lesson.

What have you done to be of service in your community lately and how does it impact you and those it serves?

I totally agree. Part of my Apprenticeship program is also service oriented. The Apprentice must do a service project. My Last Apprentice worked in the kitchen of a senior home for many hours. It is vital that we PRACTICE what we preach. Service to others is at its base, the Jedi Way!

We can write books and type in these threads all day long, but that does not make you a Jedi. What truly makes you a Jedi is to take the knowledge you learn here and put it to use. Every day situations create opportunities for us to test our knowledge and skills at a beginning level. As we learn more and more, we can elevate the involvement in the social order.

I have been involved in after school programs and assisting with fundraisers in my grade school. I was the PTA president when my children went to grade school. I was Scoutmaster and am a Firefighter. I installed heating and cooling in people homes. I am also a Village Trustee in my home town. My life has been in the service of others...and yet I am still learning and practicing to be a better Jedi.

When someone tells you or says..."You need to learn to say no to people!", then you are living a life of service.

So many of us here ARE that person. Pay it forward and help other learn the value of service to others.

Does Forum Moderator at TOTJO count!!!
:silly:
Community... nothing lately. When I was in IT I did volunteer into a taskforce once which worked on internet standards for disabled people using the WWW, and hope in the future to volunteer in a coast guard type of group. Otherwise I do like to try and find and report or gather information about criminal activity - but that is sporadic - perhaps I should have been a PI! All I'd need is an MD500, 308 Ferrari and a badass moustache!!

Does your community have a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) or Neighborhood Watch Adder? Sometimes simple things like making sure the elder guy down the street who lives alone is eating.

The mustache worked in the 70's porn industry, but the Tom Selleck thing is taken, and quite possible dead. :woohoo:

Phortis Nespin wrote: Does your community have a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) or Neighborhood Watch Adder?

There is heaps of things in all aspects of society. Volunteers are vital to society these days. Nothing suitable for me right now... I've looked but the plan is to asap. My father used to drive a bus for the local hospital for example.

Specifically here its the SES (State Emergency Service) and Rural Fire Brigade's which are volunteer and kept very busy. The crime front here does in some areas have Neighbourhood Watch but also Crime-Stoppers which reports to the Police non-urgent or possible activity.

I have worked in care all my working life. I love the job but it isn't well paid so I have to work extra hours to make ends meet, which leaves me little time for anything else. The only unpaid service I do for others is trying to be positive and supportive as much as I am able whether that is to family and friends or a stranger on the street... even something as simple as a smile can serve to brighten some ones day. It is important to remember, however, that you do need to give yourself some love too so that you have the focus and energy to better serve others. A quote that made a big impression on me many years ago and still does to this day is:

"All those who are unhappy in the world are so
as a result of their desire for their own happiness.

All those who are happy in the world are so
as a result of their desire for the happiness of others."

- Shantideva from "A Guide to the Bodhishattva's Way of Life"

Dude, I go into my son's Kindergarten class every Monday and help out. It's crazy what they throw onto teachers for a workload these days. No assistant, 21 students, excessive paperwork. It was pretty crazy but the teacher was very happy to have the help and now we're recognized at the school as people who volunteer a lot.

I have been doing service in my community for as long as I can remember. I agree it is just something that we all should do as good stewards of our community.

Some of the things I do are volunteer firefighter, volunteer policeman, donate my garden and eggs to the locals that cannot afford groceries, help out at a senior center, teach gun/bow/hunter safety to young children getting ready to learn hunting, I mentor several people and I had a community center for children for 10 years before I moved to the rural area I am now.

The reward of service is amazing to the self as much as it is to those you are helping. There is always something that needs assistance out there. The needs are as varied as the skills needed to assist. It is not hard to find.

As a printer, I deal with a lot of charities. I support these events with attendance and donations(they always have blind auctions, raffle tickets and such), many of these charities have people doing their design work for free as volunteers themselves. This leads to all manner of ignorant mistakes. Technically, we are supposed to print what they give us, but I find myself more often then not spending extra time reviewing and correcting files. I extend this to all customers, of course, but I think it is most appreciated by the charities who come to us to have their work done. I must admit, I have a self serving pride when it comes to the finished product, but it is a pride that benefits the recipient as well as my ego.

I'm in the military that's service! But I also (not lately because of my physical limitations but) do volunteer work. The most consistent one is I trained and certified my dog as a Therapy Dog so we go out and make people happy. I'm in a new state now so I've only briefly looked for places for us to go but I'm looking forward to having the time and energy to do that again. It's really neat going to the hospitals and watching people forget everything but this cute hound mutt who just wants to love them. It's amazing how a simple visit from a dog can make patients', family members', and hospital staff's days just a little brighter. We've gone to an Alzheimer's home and the base library too!

At my last station, I use to go to the nearby elementary school in uniform and the kids would read to me. I tried to convince the principal to let me bring my dog in but he was a bit confused about the difference between a Service Dog and a Therapy Dog and the capabilities we offer.

And then there's all sorts of odds-and-ends volunteer work that the base gets requested. I built a shelter for the local zoo's flamingos once