Grasping For the Moon Through Service

Sitting peacefully on a cushion day and night seeking to attain Buddhahood, rejecting life and death in hopes of realizing enlightenment, is all like a monkey grasping at the moon reflected in the water. — Shoitsu

It is easy to get lulled into a belief that to be spiritual, one must sit around all day contemplating one’s navel.
The Buddhists themselves reject that notion, and know that the real path to spirituality regardless of one’s faith is service.
That’s not to say that prayer and meditation aren’t essential, but after a healthy dose of conversation with God and inner-searching we are all called to serve.
Service for one person is not the same as for another, but a day without service is a day lost.
Service isn’t just working in a soup kitchen, for a single mother working two jobs to make ends meet, it might mean taking a moment to read her children a bedtime story or making a meal.
Service is doing something for someone else, be it family, friends, or a total stranger.
Service also doesn’t have to be drudgery or a hardship. Simply because you enjoy something doesn’t mean it can’t also be a service.
2017 is the perfect year to discover a new way to serve your fellow humans, so instead of reaching for the moon’s reflection in the water, consider grasping for the moon for real.

About the author

Webb Hubbell is the former Associate Attorney General of The United States. His novels, When Men Betray, Ginger Snaps, A Game of Inches, The Eighteenth Green, and The East End are published by Beaufort Books and are available online or at your local bookstore. When Men Betray won one of the IndieFab awards for best novel in 2014. Ginger Snaps and The Eighteenth Green won the IPPY Awards Gold Medal for best suspense/thriller. His latest, “Light of Day” will be on the bookstands soon.

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