A Lifestyle of Service
January 16, 2010Daniel No Comments »
I recently came back to Duke after spending 3 weeks in Peru. Here’s a picture of some native Peruvians.
The native people of Peru are descendants of the Incans. The Incan empire dominated Peru from the 1400s to the 1530s. In the 1530s, the Spanish conquistadors arrived on the scene and conquered the Incans.
Many of the native people in Peru today still speak Kechua, the language of the Incans.
One interesting thing I learned is that, originally, there was no word for “thank you” in Kechua (although today there is). More about this later.
During the time of the Incan empire, the people often made offerings to the gods. It was hoped that the gods would be pleased, and would bless the people with good weather and a bountiful harvest. Llamas and alpacas were often sacrificed, but when an “extra big” blessing was needed, the Incans sacrificed young children and teenagers. These were considered the “best” kind of offering.
The tour guide told us that the “chosen” children were very willing to sacrifice their lives, and their parents were also willing to have their children be sacrificed!
The Incans believed that sacrificing your life was a way to serve the community, to serve the greater good. They believed in the concept of paying it forward. This explains why originally there was no word for “thank you” in the Kechua language. The way to express your gratitude was service. The Incans knew that everyone would be willing to lay down their lives for the community.
I’m not a fan of human sacrifice, but I do think that we have much to learn from the Incans.
Service is not just an admirable action, or something to make us feel good about ourselves. Service is meant to be a lifestyle, a mindset. Service is the call to operate out of a vastness of vision, to give of yourself because you know that you are part of a community, and that you are part of something far greater than yourself.
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