We are very good at setting intentions. We pray. We meditate. We visualize. We affirm. We ask Spirit to guide us, heal us, prosper us, and show us the way. All of these are powerful spiritual practices. But there comes a moment when prayer must become action. There comes a moment when we have to get up and participate in the answer we have been praying for.
That is Sacred Service. It is where the rubber meets the road.
If we want more love in the world, we have to love. If we want more peace, we have to become peaceful in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. If we want justice, we have to practice justice. And if we find ourselves saying, “I wish somebody would do something,” perhaps the spiritual invitation is to recognize that we are that somebody.
Service is not simply something we give to others. It changes us. When we give our time, somehow our relationship with time changes. When we give encouragement, we discover encouragement within ourselves. When we share our talents, those talents expand. Life has a remarkable way of multiplying what we are willing to put into circulation.
And service stretches us. It asks us to move beyond what is familiar and comfortable. Yet every time we step beyond the boundary of our comfort zone, that boundary moves. What once frightened us becomes familiar. What once seemed impossible becomes something we know how to do. Our world becomes larger because we have become larger.
This Sunday at Unity San Francisco, we will celebrate Sacred Service: Where the Rubber Meets the Road and honor the people who give their time, talent, love, energy, creativity, and presence to our spiritual community.
Because spirituality was never intended to remain safely inside our minds.
As I often say:
“Get up from prayer, rise from your knees, get up off the cushion and be the change you are looking for.”
There is no one else coming.
God sent you.