Depression and Spiritual Growth
I. SERVICE AND COMMITMENT
Once someone has determined the purpose and meaning of
his/her life, they inevitably must assess the extent, and direction, in
which they can personally be of service to humanity. It is simply not
enough to seek tranquility and serenity in ones own life.
As Donne put it so well "No man is an island". And, as Kenneth
Boulding elaborated that theme one day in Boulder Meeting, we must
realize that even if it appears that each of is "an island" in the
glittering sea of our everyday affairs, when one looks just below the
surface, one finds that all the islands join at their roots, a
piercing metaphor for the ultimate physical and spiritual connectedness
of all people in the world. The personal rewards, and potential for
personal growth, inherent in service to the common good are huge; the process of service strengthens our own healing.
Quakers have historically been extremely active in social reform.
From their earliest days they resisted the strictures of Puritanism in
England. When William Penn set up his colony in Pennsylvania, they
provided it with a humane, democratic foundation of law and customs
that was unique in the United States. They were major participants in
the "Underground Railway" which made it possible for slaves to escape
from the South to safety during the Civil War. They led major recovery
and rebuilding efforts in Europe after the two World Wars, and provided
humanitarian medical aid to both sides in the tragic Vietnam
War. As a group they have been economically successful, highly
educated, and deeply motivated spiritually, so they have had influence
in social and political arenas far beyond what would guess from our
relatively small numbers.
Service to society, and humanity at large, is fundamental to most
Quakers. I remember Kenneth Boulding explaining to me once that Quaker
commitment to bettering the human condition had its ultimate roots in
our belief that "There is that of God in every person". The
implication of that self-evident statement (we all share the divine gift of life) is that it is our duty to help all people make their way in this world, which all too often is cruel and brutal.
Thus service is a sacred duty. On the cover of the April 1, 1983 issue of The Friends Journal,
there is a photograph of a pair of manifestly old hands that have
clearly done years and years of hard work. Beneath that are two queries:
What hands and feet does God have, but ours?
What voices with which to speak, or what hearts through which
to pour out God's love into the world?
When I think of those words, which pose for all their readers a
life-work, I always add, automatically, another "but ours?" at the
end. And again from Hillel we have:
If I am not for myself,
who will be?
But if I are only for myself,
what's the purpose?
Another life-work! In short, service is part of our "giving our
gift", and therefore also is a critical part of the meaning of ones
own life.
next: Needs, Wants and Simplicity
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