Eknath Easwaran's Commentary
To spend a certain amount of time working with people at a job that benefits others, in which our personal pleasure and profit are not at all involved, nourishes both us and the people we help. It helps them directly, but it helps us indirectly, by enabling us to realize that we are a part of life and have a contribution to make.
Today, there are so many places where help is needed. Open the daily paper – the news speaks for itself. All of us need to work together to put out the fires of hatred and violence that are burning throughout the world, threatening us and our children. I cannot imagine any human being who has love in his heart not trying to think of ways to make some contribution to the world. We needn’t work on a large scale. The important thing is that each of us give some time to working for a selfless cause. It’s good for the world, and it’s good for us.