By Master M
Service: a concept generally associated with slaves and submissives serving their Master.
Yet we see examples all around us of Masters in Service. Masters in Service to the greater Community. Some are well-spoken and prominent leaders, helping to guide, shape, inform and educate in our Leather Community. Others serve more quietly, working behind the scenes or working locally in their own areas to help advance understanding of the Leather life. Whatever form it may take, these are Masters in Service to a greater good.
Just as a slave thrives on direction from a Master with a greater goal, so too does the Community thrive on the direction we can give it when we bring our capacity for vision to the table. We are involved with the business of improving our household and the quality of life for those within it. I ask you now, what is our Community if not an extension of sorts of our own households? Our Community requires the same sort of nurturing, understanding, and direction for growth that our households require.
Certainly we have the option of living selfishly, creating the life we want with the slaves and servants we choose, and who choose us, taking what we like from our Community and ignoring the rest. I think we have an obligation to be an example and use our abilities to help nurture our Community. Find a way to be of service.
You may be too busy to have much time to contribute to anything besides the demands of work and your household. You may feel you don’t have much to contribute. There may be other things going on in your life that make it difficult. You don’t have to be a Master Skip, delivering moving keynote speeches across the country, although he is a fine example of a Master in Service and if you have the capacity, please do.
Volunteer at a Community event. Share your story and allow others to learn from your example.
Sometimes it’s the smallest gesture that can make the biggest difference to someone. You never know when an off-hand comment is going to resonate with someone and fill in a piece of self-discovery.
Opportunities for service are all around us. By keeping ourselves available and aware we can easily find them. Or, as so often happens, they can find us. By taking advantage of those opportunities:
You may be the light that helps to guide someone out of a personal darkness.
You may be the hand that pulls a child out of a harmful place.
You may be the spark that ignites a fire of self-discovery.
You may be the shelter that helps someone feel safe.
You might have the answer to a question
You might have the key to unlock a door
You might know where something is hidden
You might know what something is for.
Obviously your Community is giving you something or you wouldn’t be here today. Please, find a way to give something back. Be a Master In Service.