Deliberate Acts of Kindness Service As a Spiritual Practice

1 Service and Spiritual Practice Our spiritual forebearers knew there was something special about feeding the hungry, helping the poor, welcoming the stranger, and lifting up the brokenhearted. Considering how daily survival--without indoor plumbing, no less--was an all-consuming enterprise for just about everyone, their insistence that selflessness represented the fullest expression of spiritual life was truly radical. Throughout religious history, prophets in all traditions have made a fuss about the heavenly virtues of making nice. The fact that several died trying to make this point may explain why lesser mortals have sometimes failed to fully appreciate the spiritual benefit of righteousness in the form of generosity. To this very day, proponents of the major world religions view service as spirit-in-action and if not a direct means of salvation, at least a way of doing quality time while here on earth. If the mere mention of the world religions--any or all of them--gags you, try to remember that for every spiritually oriented person who recoils with horror at the formalism of organized religion, there's a religious one who squints suspiciously at what all is currently classified as spiritual. Try not to get too distracted by disputes about form and expression. Instead, focus on the one thing all biggies agree upon in either scripture or commentary: the importance of serving others with decency, generosity, and love. Here's a closer look at what the Western traditions have to say about service, especially its impact on the hereafter. Judaism For the observant Jew, the practice of righteousness (tzedakah) is considered much more than the decent thing to do, it's a commandment (mitzvah). While not one of the tableted top ten, it is among the 613 individual commandments that form Jewish law (Halakhah). The twelth-century philosopher Moses Maimonides identified tzedakah as perhaps the most important obligation of Jewish life--a pretty awesome designation when you consider the complexity of Halakhah. Flip through the first five books of the Bible for detailed instructions about what a righteous person ought to do and what will happen when such guidelines are either followed or ignored. In Genesis, for example, Abraham and Sarah welcome three strangers and, as is frequently the case, these visitors turn out to be angels. The aged, barren Sarah is blessed with fertility, Isaac is born, and a nation is founded. In Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, God commands Moses to teach the Israelites about such things as the practice of tithing (i.e., giving one-tenth of one's income); leaving the gleanings of harvest for the poor and alien; and giving generously to those in need without a grudging heart. Obedience to these commandments, the ancient Israelites are told, will bring peace and prosperity; disobedience will bring on sudden terror, wasting diseases, desolation, and the ever-threatened plagues. While Jewish response to strict observance has changed over the centuries, tzedakah has retained its importance as a value and form of ethical action that goes way beyond donating money, planting trees in Israel, or sending a stranger home from the Passover table with leftovers. These are necessary, but not sufficient acts. For Jews, generosity is a way of being and being-in-the-world that includes social justice issues. As the "chosen people of God" in addition to being survivors of slavery and genocide, Jews throughout history and of every denomination have embraced the moral responsibility to further human rights and freedom. Recognizing that all beings are created in the "likeness and image" of God is reason enough to extend loving-kindness to all God's created. Righteousness and identity are therefore bound together in this lifetime. Depending on the era, rabbinic sage, and God-only-knows what else, Jewish belief is not exactly divided, but noGould, Meredith is the author of 'Deliberate Acts of Kindness Service As a Spiritual Practice', published 2002 under ISBN 9780385502436 and ISBN 0385502435.