Abiding in the self you become the valentine for the whole world. Spirit is the valentine of matter, and matter is the valentine of spirit. They are made for each other. They uphold each other. If you do not respect the spirit, then matter is not pleased.
If you honor the spirit then you will take care for the world, and when you care for the world it will take care of you. You are the Christmas tree. At the time of year when no tree bears anything, it has many gifts to offer. A Christmas tree bears the gifts and the lights not for itself.
Similarly, all the gifts you are carrying in your life are for others. Anyone who comes to you, you offer them your gifts. When you show kindness, your true nature comes into play. Have you ever done acts of kindness without expecting anything out of it? Our service should not be mechanical.
Once some boy scouts were at a Sunday service, when the priest said, you should serve. They asked, what is this service? Could you give us some example? He said, Suppose an old lady wants to cross a road, go and help her cross the road.
So the boys went and looked for a whole week, but there was no old woman trying to cross the road. Finally four of them found a woman walking on a footpath. One of the boys went and asked her, Madam, would you like to cross the road?
She turned and said, 'No'. He was disappointed. So another boy went and asked her again, thinking, perhaps, that the first boy hadn't asked properly. The woman was now a little bit confused. She wondered why she was being asked this. So, she said, it was all right for him to take her across the road.
Once they had reached the other side, a third boy came and asked her, would you like to cross the road? Now it really bothered her. When the forth one approached her, she almost screamed and ran away.
You don't have to plan acts of kindness. Just do spontaneously. When you do random acts of kindness, you come in touch with your true nature.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji
25 WAYS TO A BETTER LIFE
