Christmas – A Season of Service Article of the week Dec 18-23
I often start my day by reading a devotional from a pastor from California named Rick Warren. He is the author of an international best-selling book called The Purpose Driven Life. Over the weekend I was reading one of his devotionals that talked about the importance of service. He says that there are 3 things you can do with your life: waste it, spend it or invest it.
David Cassidy, the star from the 70's sitcom The Partridge Family recently passed away at the age of 67 after struggling with Alzheimer's disease. His daughter reported that his last words were, “So much wasted time”. Throughout his life he struggled with alcoholism and a series of estranged and strained family relationships. This filled me with a deep sense of sympathy for a man who at one point, appeared to have the world at his fingertips, yet at the end of his life realized that he had wasted much of it.
We can also fall into the trap of spending our lives living exclusively for ourselves or for things that maybe don't matter so much in the big picture. While it is important to look after ourselves and the ones we love, I believe that a healthy, fulfilling life is only possible if we have a bigger purpose and have elements of our lives that are spent in service to others.
Rick Warren contends, and I agree that our lives are best spent investing in things other than ourselves by being of service to others. One of the things I love about Christmas is that service is on display all around us. I see volunteers collecting donations for the Salvation Army at store entrances. I see people and organizations mobilizing to provide gifts and support to people in their communities as well as under-developed parts of the world. I see neighbours helping neighbours shovel their driveways and walkways. Still others serve by offering their time and emotional support to those struggling with loss.
Interestingly, serving others has been shown to improve the physical and mental well-being of the volunteer or the person that is giving. The “helper's high” is a phenomenon that occurs because doing good releases feel-good hormones like oxytocin while lowering levels of stress hormones like cortisol.
In my house, this is the time of the year that we remember that Christ came to this earth 2000 years ago to model what it means to be a true servant. Mark 10:45 says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many”. I believe that Jesus modelled the kind of life that we were created to live.
As I count down the final days of 2017, I have been reflecting on the ways that I serve and how I can be of more service to those around me. My goal is to continue to be of service to others long after the Christmas tree and lights have been taken down and placed in the boxes for next year. I believe that when we serve others we are living closer to our life's purpose, and life starts to make more and more sense.
I'm so grateful that you have given me the opportunity to serve you as your chiropractor this year. I wish you many blessings for the holiday season and for the year to come!
Dr. Tim
Grace Chiropractic – 1-3230 Monarch Drive – 705-323-9100 – http://gracechiropractic.ca
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