The Simple Blessing of Servanthood

Last updated on: May 27, 2015 at 10:32 am by Kaitlin B. Curtice

The Simple Blessing of Servanthood 2015-05-27T10:32:00-04:00 Kaitlin B. Curtice

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

servant: a person who is devoted to or guided by something

Sometimes servanthood is concentrated. It pours down like a fresh rain, it covers everything with the promise of life.

In the course of a few days, a few different friends have stretched across and extended themselves to us in a kind of servanthood, calling us into each other, into community, into the holy places of God.

One friend offered to watch the boys so we can go on a date later this week.

Another friend passed on a journal to me, one that I can fill with words like this, with stories and prayers, with the evidence of miracle-life.

As I drove out of our driveway to go to a meeting, I checked our apartment mailbox and found a bulky package full of whole bean coffee from our dear friends in Arkansas.

Servanthood.

When we choose to serve one another, it’s a way of saying, I see you. I see your life, your need, your circumstances. I see your gifts and your heart. Let me be a part of that.

A servant is simply someone who’s devoted to something, who is guided by something. It’s someone who gives their energy, gifts, hearts, minds, very souls to something.

These friends of ours, they are devoted to community. They are devoted to seeing others, to capturing grace and refusing to let go.

They are servants who remember us across 705 miles of American soil, who send us coffee because they know what those little beans mean for our good.

Community is a giving and a taking, a back-and-forth exchange, where we care for one another in doses.

Servanthood is an invitation.

Servanthood is an art that pulls everyone involved into the holy part of humanity, those places that some people would say are dead.

But I look around my apartment, and I’m covered in blessings.

I’m covered in gifts, in kindnesses, in graces, in reached-out hands, in prayers and years and years of friends who have served us.

Last night, Julie prayed, “God, let us lean with You and not away from You..”

The way we lean into God is to lean into each other.

So, who are we devoted to? Who do we stretch ourselves to, who do we see, whose needs do we meet when we know they’re pulled thin?

It may be as simple as a hand written note.

It may be as quiet as a whisper,

as informal as a text message,

as tiny as a coffee bean.

But, it’s blessing, nonetheless, a release of one holy thing for another holy thing, an invitation for Kingdom Come.

Community & One Another

community

servanthood

Previous Post

May 23, 2015

A Seasonal Lesson: The Absence of Words

Next Post

June 1, 2015 The Journey of Benediction

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent 2016 Adventure Community & One Another Contemplation Lent 2016 Lessons Motherhood Native American Heritage Month 2017 Native American Spirituality Politics & Social Justice Prayer Remembrance Seven Gratitudes Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 August 2013 March 2013 February 2013 November 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz