Opening Words:

 

Today I want to share with you a few musings on the subject of Service.  I’ll begin with a quote from a 1968 sermon by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. entitled “The Drum Major’s Instinct”:

 

"Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's "Theory of Relativity" to serve. You don't have to know the Second Theory of Thermal Dynamics in Physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love, and you can be that servant."

 

(Followed by Hymn #128:  For All That Is Our Life)

Welcome

Joys and Concerns

 

Offertory (Sharing Our Abundance)

 

People of my generation have an annoying tendency to use song lyrics to express ourselves.  We’ve been known to conduct whole relationships via mix tapes.  But sometimes, frankly, the musicians, the good ones, just get it right. 

 

So…I would like to offer you this bit of wisdom from the Indigo Girls from their song A Hammer and A Nail:

 

I had a lot of good intentions--sit around for fifty years and then collect the pension

I started seeing the road to hell and just where it starts

My life is more than a vision

the sweetest part is acting after making a decision

Started seeing the whole as a sum of its parts

 

I look behind my ears for the green

And even my sweat smells clean

Glare off the white hurts my eyes

I gotta get out of bed and get a hammer and a nail

Learn how to use my hands

Not just my head  - I think myself into jail

But I know refuge never grows

From a chin in a hand in a thoughtful pose

Gotta tend the earth if you want a rose

 

My life is part of the global life

I found myself becoming more immobile

When I think a little girl in the world can't do anything

Distant nation, my community

street person, my responsibility

If I have a care in the world I have a gift to bring

 

For the offertory I will play a recording of this song, as well as a beautiful rendition, also by the Indigo Girls, of a hymn we will be singing later in the service.

 

Now is the time in our service when we can share our abundance with this church and the larger community.  Let’s be grateful for all that we have to give this day, and for all that we have to share.

 

Meditation

 

Although I will primarily be focusing on smaller spheres of service to others, I’d like us to spend a few moments meditating on the larger aspects of public service, broadly defined:

 

I share these words from Woodrow Wilson:

 

There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.

 

From Sir Wilfred Grenfell, English medical missionary and philanthropist in Canada:

 

The service we render to others is really the rent we pay for our room on this earth. It is obvious that man is himself a traveler; that the purpose of this world is not "to have and to hold" but "to give and serve." There can be no other meaning.

 

What service do we each offer to the world?

 

Please join me in a few moments of meditation, reflection or prayer.

 

(Followed by Hymn #352 – Find a Stillness)

 

(Special Music – Greensleeves – performed by Price Flanagan and Rolland Riley)

 

 

Presentation:  The Public Service Gene

 

Good Morning!  My name is Louise Alcorn.  I am a member here at First Unitarian.

 

Although we are not a denomination that generally goes in for confession, I nonetheless have a confession to make:

 

I have long since been convinced that I have, tattooed across my forehead in invisible ink that only the lost can see, the words “ask me, I like to help”. 

 

Why am I so convinced of this? 

Because I will go to the grocery store with no makeup on, in sweatpants and a paint-stained t-shirt, and will still be asked by other customers where they can find the tahini sauce or the fish sticks. 

Because I will be walking down the street in a foreign town, running a fever and really only concerned with getting back to my hotel to lie down, and will nonetheless be stopped by large Americans asking me in broken German how to get to the Torture Museum.  Yes, this really happened. 

“Ask me, I like to help.” 

 

I am a public reference librarian by profession.  A few years ago I was talking to one of my regular patrons and mentioned that we were having a debate amongst the staff about whether to wear nametags, to identify ourselves to patrons in case they needed assistance while we were away from the service desks.  He said “but Louise, you don’t need a nametag, you have helpfulness written all over you!”  I really wasn’t sure how to take this, but I knew he’d meant it as a compliment. 

 

This got me thinking, in that absurd train of thought my mind tends to follow.  In its usual way, my mind went first to the absurdly literal, and I thought “do I really have helpfulness written on me?”  Hence began my theory about the invisible ink tattoo on my forehead.  “Ask me, I like to help!” 

 

Then I began to think about the different ways our personal traits are ‘written’ upon us.  Meanness, anger, kindness—I believe these are parts of our being that manifest in our physical selves.  So why not helpfulness?  In library school we’re taught to have an ‘open face’ when approaching patrons, to make ourselves seem accessible.  My first week a professor told me that this was not something I actually needed to learn.  Somewhere along the way I’d already learned it.  But had I learned it?  And this is where my brain took an interesting turn:  was it instead simply a part of my genetic makeup?  Was this why it was ‘written all over’ me—was it written into my genetic code?   Was I actually born with a compulsion to provide service to the public, to be helpful? 

 

We could get into whether this is a personality trait, a neuroses, or a genetically-predisposed addiction, but let’s take it as read that the compulsion exists.

 

To explore the idea, I first took this question to a listserv I participate in full of opinionated librarians.  When I mentioned my half-formed idea about a Public Service Gene, I got several interesting responses.  My friend Peter attempted to define the way reference librarians, in particular, often see themselves serving the public:

 

I work with the public *a lot*. And that means not only working with them but caring about them and letting them know I care about them in a variety of ways. It's not enough to give them an answer, I have to make them (on some level) understand that I care about the answer they get.

 

Rachel, another colleague, responded to my genetics theory, saying: 

 

I do think that people are hard-wired with certain gifts, including service. I've heard it called "the helps." A person with such an inclination is one who hovers around, constantly looking for another way to do something good for someone else.

 

Again, this is where personality trait vs. weird addiction gets a bit sticky…  In fact my pal Amy, a medical librarian as it happens, put it almost in terms of a disease, saying:

 

I think those who are propelled towards public service have other qualities that the public service is a symptom, rather [than] a cause, of.  It would be interesting to put [the] public service impetus in a framework of spiritual/religious upbringing and current beliefs, public service profession and degree of non-work altruism, etc. 

 

This would be an interesting matrix to explore at some point, and I have no doubt that the Nurture argument for public service is as strong as my Nature argument.  However, staying with the gene theory, let’s move on to another response.  Listmember and librarian Kelly responded:

 

I think you might be on to something with the "Public Service Gene". I've often thought that any service oriented profession, like librarianship or social work, is less of a profession than a calling. Does anyone actually become a librarian for the money?

 

Although she was following my logical train of thought, and echoing my sentiments in many ways, something she said, or rather implied, rather bothered me.  She talked about this “gene” in the context of “service-oriented professions”.  But what about those professions not considered part of this narrow definition?

 

I think part of why this bothered me was the result a conversation I had with a friend some years ago.  Tom and I were having coffee.  I had been amusing him with that story of being stopped on a street corner in Germany, and how this must prove my “public service gene” theory, because clearly I was letting off some sort of “helpful pheromone”!  Instead of laughing it off, it seemed to strike a nerve in him.  He said “don’t you see, perhaps you are asked to help because you are meant to be of public service—it’s in your genes.  I think it’s in mine, but I’m struggling to express it.”

 

Tom has what he has often described as a “soul-sucking corporate wonk job” and he went on to say that although he was good at his job and made good money, he felt the focus of the job was too ‘narrow’.  I was getting a bit worried—he has a wife and a couple of kids and I didn’t want him to suddenly decide to run away and start some new life tending to the poor because of something I’d said offhand.  When I asked him what he meant, he said that, no, he didn’t want to quit his job, which honestly he rather liked doing, and he did take advantage of many opportunities to do public service outside of his job, but he simply wanted to “add some meaningful aspect of public service to his daily work”. 

 

This phrase struck me.  First there is the assumption that what he does for a living is not of public service, which I want to come back to in a moment.  But the thing that ultimately had Tom and I hung up and talking in circles was trying to define what he and I meant by “public service” and also “meaningful”.  Ultimately we came around to an agreed definition that meaningful public service would be that work, that service that enhanced people’s lives for the better.  Nice and vague.  I certainly didn’t have any answers for Tom that day, except perhaps to try to think of his work in a broader context—the work he did regularly created good jobs for people, thus potentially enhancing their lives.  I believe that ultimately Tom ended up doing some work with the charitable foundation related to his corporation.  I haven’t had a chance to ask him if this has been sufficiently “meaningful” for his, shall we say, genetic drive to help?

 

I realized that part of my trouble helping Tom was an assumption that he had picked up over time—and that certainly I’ve been prone to—that his job somehow had no aspect of public service.  I knew him to be a thoughtful, caring person with a broad vision of the world, and an interest in its welfare.  I realized later that some part of him had been brainwashed (?) perhaps into thinking that working in corporate America allowed him no room to be of public service, and I think this was the fallacy that he was tripping over. 

 

Whenever I want to do one of these public talks I tend to go to my very smart friends for some perspective and advice, like asking my librarian friends for thoughts on public service.   As I pondered my conversation with Tom in the context of today’s service, I remembered my friend David, with whom I went to Grinnell.  He and I have had several interesting discussions about the meaningfulness of work in the corporate world.  I think he assumed at first that I’d take the standard line—which I heard more than once, I admit, growing up in the UU church—that only those doing the ‘good work’ in non-profits and public service professions were doing anything worthwhile.  I don’t actually believe this, though I think talking to David has even further expanded my thought horizons. 

 

He responded to my query about public service with gusto.  I wish I could quote his entire “rant” as he called it, as it was quite eloquent and thought-provoking, but let me give you a ‘flavor’, as I realized he had articulated what I’d wanted to say to Tom:

 

First, let me start with a brief discussion of what I think you mean by 'Public Service.'  I suspect you think you mean any role or vocation that has as its direct output making the lives of others better.  What I find interesting - and deeply, deeply frustrating - is that many people…believe that one can only truly help others by doing something non-profit.  This is an interesting belief, particularly in light of the fact that many of the horrible things people do to each other are done under the umbrella of a non-profit organization (e.g., KKK, anti-abortion shootings, [religious] wars, etc.).  However, the fact remains that …the for-profit realm is seen as actively bad or, at least, completely immoral.  Money is the root of all evil, if you will. 

(David pulls no punches, which I respect a great deal)

 

I, on the other hand, would suggest that any significant impact on the world has always come through the actions of a large group of people working together.  …I submit the argument that whether an organization is for-profit, non-profit, or government is irrelevant to the question of whether it is a force for good or ill.  …groups of people cause change by working together in the form of an organization. 

 

 

Where I differ from David on this is the question of whether a group is actively defining as their primary purpose working toward some change that will benefit the common good, or whether it is simply causing change as a secondary result of the work they do.  However, I agree with his contention that simply being ‘non-corporate’ or ‘non-profit’ does not guarantee that an organization is actually doing any real good in the world or that its members will feel that they are performing ‘meaningful public service’.  And of course when you’re talking about, for instance, religious organizations, definitions of “common good” can vary widely and conflict dangerously. 

 

David also addressed my question of being of “meaningful service to others” in one’s job.  He said:

 

I currently make a living as an HR consultant, which is to say I advise major companies (both for- and non-profit, although mostly for-profit) on how to get their employees to stay longer and work harder.  Based on years of research across hundreds of thousands of people I can tell you for a fact that the single most important way to get an employee to work harder and stay longer is by showing them they are part of something bigger and more important than they are.  Furthermore, I can tell you that the most committed, passionate employees I have seen or studied are part of an organization they think is making the world a better place.  Whether in pharmaceuticals, health care, high-tech, or funeral-related services, many employees believe their jobs and their companies are making the world a better place.  

 

…The broader question of why some people want to make a difference and others don't is a bit beyond me.  I can tell you that almost everyone wants to be part of something bigger than they are.  Many don't care much what that thing is and some don't care if it helps others.  Anyone that does, though, can find great ways to do just that in their jobs - not just outside it.

 

It is, perhaps, easier to say to oneself at the end of the day, if one is in a traditionally service-oriented profession, that one has done some work toward a common good.  But just because it’s easier doesn’t mean that it’s exclusive.

 

Those of us in more obviously public service-oriented professions have to be cautious about sounding a bit high and mighty about how we’re working for a common good.  I think there is a basic value in the work we do, in terms of enriching people’s lives.  And that value is one of the things that draws us to these professions.   But it is available to anyone, in any walk of life, if they feel the drive to find it and make it real.  Which brings us back to the ‘gene’ idea—how much of our compulsion to do this work is upbringing, and how much is inherent in us? 

 

I think the particular choice of profession is an individual choice based on personal preferences—more nurture than nature, perhaps—for instance, I haven’t the stomach to work in medical care.  I am a sympathetic vomiter.  Let’s just leave it at that!  I’m also deeply fond of puzzles, and effectively getting to solve puzzles for a living is no small benefit for me.  But there are lots of professions where I could solve puzzles—engineering, the sciences, the law—and I considered many of these over time.  Ultimately I knew I needed the direct contact with people which is a big part of my job, and the working environment appealed to me, as it would appeal to many people.  However, I cannot imagine someone with no public service ethos wanting to do my job.  Or rather, I can imagine them in my job, because my profession is sadly full of people who got into it not realizing the amount of public contact it would require, but that’s for another speech.  However I cannot imagine them feeling fulfilled by this work, as I so often do. 

 

I have a total weakness for interesting and apt quotes, and I came across any number of them while working on today’s service.  One of them speaks to how one applies one’s nature to the choice of a job.  This is, believe it or not, from Oprah Winfrey, from an editorial in her O Magazine: 

 

I've come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that's as unique as a fingerprint - and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you.

Oprah Winfrey (1954 - ), O Magazine, September 2002

 

There’s that “calling” again.  We know that there are opportunities for public service outside of one’s work—in fact, they’re almost never-ending—but we spend such a huge chunk of our adult lives in the work world, being able to gain the benefits that service offers in our work day can be enriching to our whole lives.  So what are these benefits?

 

There are obvious benefits to the people around you.  My buddy Katie, also a librarian, half-jokingly simplified why she thought public service was valuable with this equation:  Good public service = positive transactions = happier people = world peace.  Perhaps over-simplified, though I suppose there are good arguments for happier people at large making for a happier world. 

 

There are also benefits to the person offering the service.  Another friend of mine from college, now in medical school, pointed out to me some recent studies showing the correlation between stopping depression and doing public works of service.  It appears that people recover from depression faster who are involved in public service.  I would also point out that depression can include increasing feelings of isolation—so reaching out to find connections with a larger world can be therapeutic.

 

So why do we do it? I find that ultimately I can only speak from my own perspective, and that of my profession.  My medical librarian friend once said:

 

I have found that in order to feel fulfilled I need to have a job that contributes something to society. It might have its bad days - what job doesn't - but on the whole it's the giving that makes the whole thing worthwhile.

 

I heard that more than once from colleagues and friends from many professions who responded to my queries—that their lives were given more meaning by doing work that they thought helped the larger public.  My friend Tracey says she literally couldn’t live without connecting to people on a regular basis.  I think that need is a reasonable argument for my Public Service Gene theory. 

 

Is it a neurotic compulsion, a bad case of “the helps” or, as I would argue, a genetic inevitability—whatever the reason, we go out there and do what we can to help, and are lucky to do it as our daily work.

 

So the question comes to this:  Are you like me?  Are you like my colleagues?  Do you find yourself in the middle of the grocery store, playing tour guide to the uninitiated?

 

Do you find yourself doing this at your workplace?  If you do, you are lucky, and important.  You might want to check your forehead for tattoos!

 

“Ask me, I like to help!”

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

(Please join me in singing my favorite Hymn #159 – This is My Song)

 

Closing Words:

 

And finally, from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

 

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.