Be Of Service To Others

You've been told by himself that you're to be a Jesuit today.

Go out there and serve the community, the forty-fourth president said. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, perhaps.

A man who sits in a church for twenty years for the sole purpose of gleaning political points wouldn't realize that the Jesuits beat that whole service notion into young skulls since St. Ignatius Loyola started the order. Be of service to others. That's what you're on this earth for, young man, and when you're not serving you'd best be studying Latin and Greek to mold your brain. Be of service to others.

If you don't make a habit of attending religious services, you might not realize that there's a regular schedule for serving at the soup kitchen and the emergency homeless shelter. Not just today, on Martin Luther King Day, but on an ongoing basis. That's what community service is all about.

Be of service to others for one day, and you'll find that it's a monumental pain in the arse. Be of service to others in the Jesuitical style, and you'll find that it's still a monumental pain in the arse, to give of your precious free time. It's just that, if you follow St. Ignatius's dictates, you won't get all dewy-eyed when some politician makes a recommendation that has all the production values of Hollywood, along with its utter lack of sincerity.

Some revelations aren't startling if you're living them.