I’ve heard that service is the highest form of consciousness on the planet. I wondered why we didn’t learn about that as children — that to do honor unto the Lord would be a blessed thing to do. I guess it’s like going to church when you feel like it, or when it is convenient. After careful thought, I do remember that my mom and dad did do service — my mother mostly. She was President of the PTA when I was in grade school. She and dad offered their services for the annual fiesta/carnivals when we were in private schools. I also remember my mom counting ballots all night during an election.

One of my grandmothers was big on serving the Church. She was in charge of the travel staff, and she did talks when she traveled. Grandma Suzie was a great lover of God and my greatest influence spiritually as a youngster. She was a compassionate spirit.

So somewhere inside I got the idea about serving even though it was never talked about. I was born to serve. It was all I knew as a child. I did everything I could for everyone and it made me happy. I remember feeling guilty about doing so much because it was perceived as trying to manipulate, or win favor. I just loved watching people be glad they had someone interested in doing something they didn’t want to do, or didn’t have enough time or hands to do. The energy of gratitude was present even though I didn’t quite know what it was then. Now I know that all along I have been a part of something really big. I was serving the Lord.

Giving and receiving go hand in hand I have found out. To be a good and grateful giver I must be a good and grateful receiver. I finally got it after many years of having the process of receiving come up so often in workshops or with friends giving me feedback.

I also learned that it was important to give from the overflow so that my service would be full of love and grace — that there would be plenty for the giving and I could have some too. An important and valuable lesson I learned was how to give to myself. How to minister to myself. How to love myself. In learning what it was to do that, I became more conscious in my service, and open to what Spirit had for me personally. How to stay awake and hear my name called is important for me and what I am to do in service.

Many years ago I discovered that service is a great way for me to seed for myself, and others. Not that it is the only way, yet it is a way that really works for me. I have Soul contact when I am serving. I have contact with God. Revelations happen when I am in service. Whispers come to me from Spirit when I serve because I am available to the Lord. It is like breathing. I don’t know any other way to be, other than to just let go, and let God (relax and be patient). I also found that it served me to always have pen and paper handy when I served so I could be ready to take dictation when Spirit had information that was important for me to know.

There were times I was out of work, and I’m not one to sit around, so I volunteered. I remember serving at Prana, or Peace Theological Seminary (PTS), during one of those times and I would get calls from an employment agency when I volunteered. When the work assignment was over, I went back to Prana and in a few days they would call me again. This went on for several weeks until I got hired on a permanent basis.

Another period without employment found me at the Institute for Individual & World Peace (IIWP). I got up every morning as though I was hired and took the bus into Santa Monica from Hancock Park to serve for eight hours. I was serving and having fun. I so enjoyed the people and what I was doing. Plus I loved knowing I was serving The Traveler’s Team.

I have had the pleasure of serving on the MSIA Ministerial Board for the last four years and currently as an active advisory member. I also serve PTS in the academic branch, and with the Peace Labyrinth and Gardens I am assistant chef. I assist at a number of workshops, and other events as they come up and I am called inside to do so. I also assist MSIA’s webmaster, Deborah Martinez, at 2101 Wilshire and I very much love working with her. A happy addition to my service recently is writing event articles for the New Day Herald website which is a joy in my heart to do. This service that I do is very regular. I do it because it serves me and lifts me in many ways. It is a joy to serve the Lord, and the Traveler.

So my beloveds I say all this to you that you may know the value and the absolute pleasure and wonder of my time with the Lord. For me, service is a spiritual exercise.