“I Serve”

The ancient motto, “Ich dien” (I serve), which is attached to the crest of the Prince of Wales, deserves to be adopted by all practical Christians, for one of the unfailing signs of moral regeneration in human nature is the desire to serve. A tradition, which recent historical investigators are inclined to discredit, affirms that at the Battle of Crécy, in 1346, the fifteen-year-old Prince of Wales, known as the Black Prince, took this device from the helmet of the fallen King John of Bohemia. Be that as it may, the motto, “I serve,” has been associated for many centuries with princely rank, and has thereby emphasized a truth of rare significance. The desire to rule others may be part of the sordid sensuousness which mortals must outgrow, but the longing to serve can only proceed from noble aspirations, deep-seated love, and genuine tender-heartedness.

Jesus read his students one of his most impressive lessons upon this subject, upon the occasion when two of them asked him for place and power. He pointed out to them in kindly admonition that the “great ones” among the Gentiles “exercise authority upon them,” but that their greatness was to be of another sort. He said, “And who soever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.” At another time, shortly before his betrayal and crucifixion, he illustrated his idea of service by the apparently menial and material act of washing the feet of his disciples, thus symbolizing the exalted spiritual service of purification which they and all others who should understand his teaching were to perform for mankind. He said, “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.”

This desire to serve must have expressed itself strongly in Mary of Magdala, after the “seven devils” had been cast out of her, for Luke tells us that she and other women “ministered unto” the Master. She was also among the faithful few who stood last at the foot of the cross and first at the open sepulchre. In Wagner’s opera of “Parsifal,” in which the theme of healing is introduced, there occurs a deeply impressive scene, which would tend to show that the great composer had knowledge of the marked trait in human nature referred to above. After Parsifal had freed Kundry from the spell which seemed to bind her to an evil life, her one hope, ambition, and glory was summed up in the idea of service. She is represented after her deliverance from sin as serving mutely, neither speaking nor singing, except to utter the one word “Dienen” (to serve).

It should not be forgotten that the word “minister,” in common use as an equivalent for preacher or pastor, means “servant” in Latin, and indicated that those who fill such offices should learn to serve mankind as Jesus did, following his example in its entirety,—not merely essaying to reform the sinner, but healing the sick as well. The word “service” in the vernacular of religious denominations loses its true significance when it becomes a mere rehearsal of creed and doctrine and fails to include healing as well as instruction.

Christian Science shows how it is possible here and now to follow Jesus’ example, so as to produce the fruits of health as well as those of holiness. The practice of Christian Science constitutes a metaphysical washing of the feet. It also liberates man’s inherent desire to serve others from the trammels of impotence and sin, and gives this desire free play to act naturally, spontaneously, and effectively. It is part of the first grand impulse of gratitude which rises in the heart of him who has been healed by Christian Science, to wish to help and heal others. Indeed this impulse is one of the marks that the true healing has taken place. The promptness and joyousness with which the newly-healed often taken up the task of self-abnegation and self-sacrifice, serves as a wholesome example.

The desire to serve bursts the shell of selfishness, lifts the burden of belief which would impose upon mankind a weighty sense of “cannot,” and cuts short the tendency in human nature to fatten on the words and works of others without contributing to the common weal. Service makes “doers” and not merely “preachers” of the word, and stamps Christianity as practical and immediately available. The union of noble leadership and unremitting service is beautifully illustrated in our own day by the life of the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, who bids Scientists follow their Leader “only so far as she follows Christ” (Message, 1902).