In this issue, we are revisiting the idea of service as it is expressed by the new group of world servers today. Drawing on the work done in London, New York and Geneva over the Festival Week in December 2005, we will explore how the new group is helping to ground the theory and practice of Living Synthesis in the world. Themes addressed in Reflections on World Service (Newsletter 2005 #4) are picked up again, and examined from slightly different angles. The apparent simplicity of this topic may be deceptive. The idea of a group of people who are linked by a common purpose is nothing new – but a purpose as grand in scope as world service is new. Moreover, world service is as complex, organic and diverse as the world itself; and by the same token, so are the world servers. Yet there is something subtle, intangible, telepathic even, that unites them into a coherent whole. They are not an organisation, but something much more needed in these times – an organism, a living being. The life that pulses mysteriously through all creatures pulses also through the veins and nerves of the new group. So the group is not static, but is constantly evolving in response to new circumstances – new forms of service are continually being invented and explored, and old forms re-imagined and revitalised. Thus, every time we reflect on their nature and role, we can expect to see something new, and to understand a little more clearly just why the group is unique, and where our place within it might lie.
London, New York and Geneva are the main focal points of the work of World Goodwill, yet there are also groups cooperating with us around the world, and a number of these groups celebrated the Festival Week too. In Australia, Sydney Goodwill held a meeting entitled Gifts of Spirit, where participants discussed, “the deeply esoteric nature of Giving which goes beyond the surface exchange of material gifts.” The meeting opened and closed with the meditation formula “Strengthening the Hands of the New Group of World Servers”. This formula was also used in two meditation meetings organised by the Peninsula Goodwill Unit of Service in Victoria, Australia. In Nigeria, two groups, the Nigerian Group for Goodwill, and the Eket Unit of Service, each organised a special seminar for the week. At both meetings, a number of speakers gave their insights into the work of the new group. In KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, the South African Goodwill Association held a meeting with two talks and a meditation. In the Greek capital, Athens, a meeting was held for more than 110 people, featuring a talk, a video on the future of the planet, and a group meditation. And in Denver, USA, a group prepared a poster and information on the week and circulated it to their mailing list, and also discussed the significance of the week and opportunities for participation at their regular monthly meditation meetings. We feel sure that other groups will also have been active in celebrating the week, and would be glad to receive further reports on this work.
Reflections on synthesis in service
Includes a brief report of the seminar in Geneva, along with a selection of adapted texts from the meetings in London and New York.
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