The Motive in the Background

2003-1-21 04:25:00

Great post on joy Rick. I especially like these words:
"Joy is not an emotion either. Happiness is an emotion. Joy is a motivation, built into everything that exists in the world of form, even dirt and rocks. Does not the Bible say that even the rocks would sing for joy? It is a built-in barometer that lets us know when we are attuned to the Truth. It's like what tells us whether the music sounds good or we need to tune the piano."

Several have made the comment that when they serve God they do it with no thought of reward.

This statement seems to infer that when we work for money, praise or some other reward that the end product is in our minds as we work, but is it?
I put in many hours each week keeping my business together. One of the products we make is signs and as I was spending a number of hours on a project, I thought to myself these thoughts?

What is the reason that I am motivated to do this work instead of a thousand other things I could be doing?

The answer was to make the needed money to keep body and soul together as well as publish the next book.

Then I thought to myself this: "Throughout all the day I have worked for money have I thought of money even one time?"

Answer: No. I had not thought of money as a motive even once today nor did I yesterday or the day before.

What did I think about?

Answer: I thought about getting my work done and doing a good service and job for my customer.

Question: If I am motivated to do the work for money then why do I not think about money?

Answer: The course of the business was set some time ago and now I know that if I follow procedure that the money will just come in. Rarely do I even think about it.

Now, let us switch to my motive for following the will of God in the highest service I know.

What is the reason that I am motivated to do freely given service instead of a thousand other things I could be doing to get me ahead?

The answer is that I have thought my priorities through and have concluded that the greatest joy comes from service in alignment with the will of God and the will of God always includes the helping of our friends upon the path.

This said, when was the last time I was burning the midnight oil in service that I thought something like this to myself.

"I'm going to work real hard tonight so I can get lots of joy. Then I'm going to work even harder tomorrow so I can get more joy still..."

The answer is that I do not think I have ever thought such a thing while I have been in the service of my friends.

What did I think about?

Answer: My thoughts were similar to the service I render in my business. I thought about doing a good job so the recipient would find the service useful.

Question: If I am motivated to do the work for joy then why do I not think about joy as a reward?

Answer: Again, the answer is similar to the one I gave for the business. The course of freely given service along with the benefits was seen and decided some time ago and there is no need to think about it. A lot of the joy and satisfaction in service whether it be through doing a good job in our normal work or giving to an altruistic purpose is the journey. Even as I write to you right now, in service, I find that I enjoy it. Then when I read your response I find I enjoy this also.

When I perform my business service well I find that money just comes in, as well as the enjoyment of a job well done. Then when I perform a more spiritual service, I correspondingly also find that joy and enJOYment just naturally follows without having to think about it.

So, in summary, let us ask. If we are serving without thinking of the positive aspect of enjoyment or joy that comes from service, does this mean that joy is not a factor???

To the contrary, joy is indeed a factor. As proof just try to find one person who attempts to give service to God, but does not enjoy the service, or has any prospect for joy. I do not think you can find one. I know that I do not know of one.

Conclusion: Even though it may seem that many are serving just for the sake of service (because the reward is not in their mind as they work) there was indeed a moment of decision behind this work wherein it was concluded that following the will of God would be the most rewarding path.