The Joy is in the Serving.

In a strange new world, people become more individualists.  More and more souls live day by day in the confines of their rooms, with only their computers as friends.

A cousin told me "my son in his thirties, still doesn't have a girlfriend, yet late at night I hear him having a conversation in his room."  Perhaps he's chatting on line, or doing more.

It's a sad fact of the modern times; many are waiting to be served.

We are programmed to get instantaneous result, feedback and action from whatever we do.

We want instant gratification, always.

We have TV and cable on demand, we have 24/7 help desks, we have on line orders and purchases, we have medical and legal advice on line as well, even instant divorce.

Mothers cannot afford inaction, husbands and kids would complain.  So there's instant food or delivery for those juggling motherhood and career.

While some of these modern devices and conveniences make living easier, many become distractions and aberrations. For instance, instead of promoting family closeness or bonding, eating together becomes a joke when a family eats in front of a television set with their take out food as center piece.

Or when we send flowers to a friend in a hospital through FTD.com or phone in floral delivery, without actually visiting him or her.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

In Mark 10: 35-45, the brothers James and John asked Jesus for a big favour: Lord appoint us to seat in the right and left sides of your throne.  And when the ten other apostles heard this, they got angry at the two for they also wanted to ask for favours and were beaten to it by James and John.

Yet Jesus replied, " Who among you want to be great shall be a servant of the others. For the Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve."

There is joy in serving others.  Aside from serving the members of our family, we can move on to serve a bigger community.

In doing service to others, we discover our inner peace and strength.