Friday, April 7, 2017

Compassion, Camaraderie, Service

Compassion is for someone suffering or someone who is in a disadvantageous situation. Camaraderie is amongst those who are in similar situations or amongst equals. And service is to someone considered superior or respect worthy, or to some higher authority or ideal.

Compassion and camaraderie are very noble qualities indeed. They are high virtues exhibited by those who can empathize with others, and want to make someone else’s life a little better. But interestingly, neither of these two is service in the sense service is defined above.

Compassion and camaraderie typically don’t need one to consider the recipient as a superior; in fact they are typically done in the mood of helping out a needy person when one is in a superior or equivalent position.

This explains why helping the needy and doing activities together in groups is so popular, while serving superiors is not. Serving needs obedience, it needs one to compromise on one’s own preferences, it needs accepting someone else’s control on one’s life; in short it accepting someone or something else as superior to oneself.

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