By Dr. Stuart C. Lord
"If I am not for myself, who is for me? If I care only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?" These epigrammatic words of Rabbi Hillel were meant to remind us of the developmental process of a human being. That is to say, a process that encompasses the responsibility to take care of not only ourselves, but to provide service to others as well. Who will we, at Dartmouth College, choose to become? The time to decide is NOW.
"Not to be served, but to serve." These words from the Christian tradition are often set over the doorways of hospitals and churches across the nation. They are an inspiration and a challenge because they were both spoken and demonstrated in the life of Jesus.
All of us feel the appeal of such words and examples. Perhaps we have faith that there can be a better life for everyone if we, as a people, would dedicate a portion of ourselves to the service of others. We may sense that this is the pathway to a fulfillment that would otherwise be absent from our lives. However, despite the emphasis in this age on individual accomplishments and the autonomy of self, it may be that there is a more clouded desire for our accomplishments as a people.
We see the pathway of human development as progress from the undifferentiated collective to a sense of individuality and personhood, and to genuine community. In this view, life's greatest purpose is accomplished not in what we do as individuals, but in what we do collectively.
The developmental process of the human being, as Hillel's words suggest, is not without paradox and mystery. The individual autonomy we have been taught to prize is a kind of slavery, wherein we are only free to serve the demands of our ego. However, in order to truly know freedom, we must serve more than the individual. We must also commit the individual to service for, and with others. We must ask ourselves, "How can we serve?"
The Bible contains many stories and sayings, which point to this mystery, and to its source in God. "Give, and it will be given to you--good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over." Heard in these terms, such counsel could lead to a self-interest calculation based on the trust that others will respond generously to our giving. It is in giving that we may receive back - sometimes even more than that which we gave.
A part of us wants to live more generously and sacrificially in the service of others. Yet so much of life seems to instruct us to the contrary. Even the world of nature teaches us that the instinct for self-survival is paramount and necessary.
We are all too familiar with the needy do-gooder who uses acts of service and charity primarily to ingratiate or establish moral superiority. Conceivably none of us can fully purify ourselves from these subtle temptations. Moreover, unless we try to do so, many of our efforts to be of service to others may in fact be painfully counterproductive. That counter-productive character is perhaps particularly visible to us in many governmental foreign-aid programs.
Because a life that offers true service does require practice and discipline, it is well to begin as soon as possible. This is especially true if one aspires to a role of leadership. I fear that a number of people in our society believe that the path to significant service lies along the pathway of first achieving a position of importance and power, and then using that office for service. Indeed, we might do better in our institutions and in society to attempt to identify those who are motivated by the desire to serve, and promote them to positions where they can mature as leaders. This would better fulfill the biblical injunction that "whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant." Leadership, in this view, develops from a life of service, not the reverse. It has been, I believe, rightly pointed out that governing and leadership are not the same thing. Truly to lead, one must be a servant.
During this year there will be a number of occasions to reflect and ask questions about opportunities for service through the Dartmouth Community Service program, Internships and Fellowships, Religious Life programs, Issues of Conscience and Symposia and Training sessions.
A life of service comprises, of course, much more than one's profession. A total vocation includes one's role as a family member, friend, neighbor, and a citizen. It involves one's ability to develop a sharing lifestyle and a sense of the fundamental equality that all human beings have a right to the needful things of life. Consequently, in this program we shall be thinking primarily about the factors guiding career choices, and how particular professions may be employed to serve some of life's greater purposes--emphasizing the paths of peace, justice and service.
It is all too easy at a place like Dartmouth to get into the mindset that if one cannot have an opportunity rather dramatically to change the world, then it is not worth trying to do anything. "The greatest crime," it has been said, "is to do nothing because we fear we can do only a little." It is also easy to think that genuine service to society can only be offered in certain professions. Given life's tough facts and limitations, it may seem clichŽ to maintain that one can be of service in various professions, but I have often been surprised by the grace with which some people see their supposedly "lowly jobs" as opportunities to help others.
There is a story told of a man who visited St. Paul's Cathedral while it was being built by Christopher Wren following the Great Fire of London. He asked a stonemason what he was doing, and he replied rather curtly that he was building a pediment. He asked a wood carver and an ironworker the same question. They replied in similar fashion, the carver that he was carving this particular pew, the ironworker that he was building this screen. Then the man saw another individual sweeping up after the other workers. "What is your job?" he said. "I'm helping Sir Christopher Wren build the cathedral," he responded.
The fact is that measured against the scale of the greater human society and the millennia of our history; all of our contributions are small. Nonetheless, what we do collectively and the spirit with which we act, matter enormously if the human endeavor is to have any significance at all.
Whether we like it or not, we cannot live as islands. Our lives affect and bear a significant impact on the lives of others. As we continue to reflect upon Hillel's words and the tenants of Christian tradition, we must never forget our commitment to the service of mankind. We will be challenged in the weeks ahead to ask ourselves, "Do we desire to make a positive contribution to the lives of others?" If the answer is yes, the question posed is, "How can we serve?"
Reprinted from the Winter 2001 edition of the Tucker Points newsletter.
