When service becomes a disservice

Looking at our current political scenario, tis what's happening...ask the PM why he is staying on. I think among the answers he might give will be to serve the people. So what if a large segment of the people do not want him because he is not fit in their eyes? I guess that's when by staying on, service becomes a disservice. This is just one of many ways to look at it....bottom line probably comes back to this one thing - personal gain. Personal gain can be in many forms; be it monetary or non-monetary. The latter is more complicated as it may involve family and friends. For the PM, there are personal gains here to stay...face saving, family dependency - SIL stands to lose a lot, friends' prompting, etc...

But 'service becomes a disservice' is not just a problem confined to our politics. It's everywhere. It's found at work, play and even our worship places. It's as old as the human race cos of the underlying benefit.....personal gain.

In places of worship for example, what if a church leader delegates the tasks under him to just his family members and not any one else? The whole family is still performing a service to the church... but would that be considered a disservice as he has not ensured that training and exposure are given to the others...that others be given a chance to serve? In other situations, it would be nepotism. But I guess it may be difficult to argue.However, I would consider it a disservice because in wanting to 'train' their very own to continue to walk their faith, they fail to train up others to take over some day. If a shepherd concentrates only on just a few sheep in his flock, he'd still end up losing it all. In the pursuit of our goals in life, we often forget that every one of us has to leave this world. So one can either adopt an attitude of either grabbing everything for yourself or leaving behind a legacy that can continue for the benefits of those who come after. Of course the lines which separate this sometimes can be rather thin.

It's the same at work place...sometimes we get possessive over equipment and rooms which are entrusted to us. Because of that we disallow others from using them. In the end even though they are used by us, our colleagues and students miss out on what has been given to benefit all.

So service becoming a disservice...that's a thought which came to mind last Sunday. It's something I must remind myself...