SELFLESS SERVICE
Sadhu Sundar singh (1889-1929) was a great Christian missionary of India
who spread the Word of God among the people of Tibet in the Himalayan mountain
ranges.
One afternoon,
as he was travelling on foot with a companion along a hilly path in Tibet, they
were caught in a severe snow storm. During a brief lull, looking down from the
edge of a steep slope, they saw the body of a traveller lying in the snow at
the foot of the cliff, over thirty feet below the path. The stranger had
obviously fallen from the path and needed urgent attention and assistance. As
the Sadhu tried to climb down to rescue the man, his companion tried his best
to dissuade him. He warned the Sadhu that if they lost time in the effort to
save the stranger, all three of them would
be frozen to death in the snow storm before reaching their shelter. The
Sadhu was determined to save the helpless man and sought the cooperation of his
companion. But he refused to help and walked away to save his own life.
The
Sadhu climbed down the slope and reached the injured man. He was badly hurt and
had broken his leg in the fall. The Sadhu carried the stranger on his
shoulders, carefully covering him with his blanket and climbed up the steep and
slippery path with the heavy load. After hours of tedious travel with the heavy
load in the severe snow storm, they approached the nearest village when
darkness was near. The Sadhu was drenched in sweat. Suddenly he stumbled over a
human body half-buried in the ice-covered road. It was the frozen dead body of
the companion who deserted the Sadhu and proceeded alone to save his own life.
He was overcome by the cold and frozen to a tragic death.
The Sadhu carried the stranger
to the safety and warmth of a shelter in the village and provided him with all
necessary assistance. He remembered that by saving the stranger by sacrificing
his comforts, he had actually saved himself. The exertion of carrying the heavy
load, the perspiration and the intimate contact of their living bodies had
heated them up and saved their lives. He remembered the words of Jesus, "For whoever wants to save his own
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it"
{Luke 9: 24, Luke 17: 33, Matthew 10: 39, Matthew 16: 25,
John 12: 25}.
A
disciple once asked sadhu Sundar Singh, "What is life's most difficult
task?" He answered, "To have no burden to carry!" The greatest
gift of selfless service is that it also helps the one who serves. There is no
valley so deep to be beyond the reach of God's mercy.
The road from Jerusalem to Jericho passes
through our front. Let us behave like the Good Samaritan and be of help to any
one in need. “Give to the poor and you will never be in need” {Proverbs 28:27 “Happy are those who are merciful
to others; God will be merciful to them!” {Matthew 5: 7}.“Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and
don’t have enough to eat. What good is there in your saying to them, “God bless
you! Keep warm and eat well!”- if
you don’t give them the necessities of life? So it is with faith: if it is
alone and includes no actions, then it is dead” {James 2: 15-17}.
St. John, the
Apostle, is known as the Apostle of Love. He learned the value of true love,
while witnessing the cruel crucifixion of Christ on Calvary. In his old age,
the only advice St. John used to deliver during his sermons was, "My
children, you must love one another." In his Epistle, he wrote, "My children,
our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows
itself in action" {1 John 3: 18}. "God is love and whoever
lives in love lives in union with God and God lives in union with him" {1 John 4: 16}.
Worried over the lack of love among some
Corinthians, St. Paul wrote to them his famous words of wisdom about real love,
"I may be able to speak the
languages of men and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no
more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell..." {1 Corinthians 13: 1-13}.
Love is the language that Jesus taught his
disciples as the universal medium for evangelisation. Love can be heard by the
deaf, seen by the blind and felt even by the mentally retarded.
We may give without loving; but we cannot
love without giving. Love is giving all we can. Love is like a smile - neither
has any value unless given away. Karl Menninger said, "Love cures people
- both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it." Mother Teresa
said, "It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into what you
do that counts."
...........................................................................................................
© By:
Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science &
Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India, Prof.
Mrs. Rajamma Babu, Former Professor, St. Dominic's
College, Kanjirappally and
Leo. S. John, Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath, Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally,
Kottayam-686507, Kerala, India.
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