Ministry according to A. Maslow

We have identified another feature of the people we studied. I’m talking about their inherent focus on external issues. If you try to find a name for this feature, then I would suggest calling it service as opposed to egocentric tendencies. Unlike insecure, anxious people with their penchant for constant introspection and introspection, these people are not bothered by personal problems, they are not too inclined to think about themselves. Almost each of them has a calling and a cause to which they serve, to which they devote themselves without reserve, almost each of them is concerned about some important problem, the solution of which requires all his strength and energy.

It is not necessarily a favorite activity, not necessarily an activity that a person has desired or an activity that he aspired to, it may be an activity that he feels obligated to do. That’s why I’m talking about service, about life’s mission, and not just about «favorite» work. These people, as a rule, are not concerned with problems of a personal, selfish nature; for the most part, they think about the welfare of other people — the whole of humanity, their fellow citizens, or the welfare of people close and dear to them.

With a few exceptions, we noted one characteristic feature in almost all of our subjects. These people tend to think about the fundamental problems of human existence, they ask those eternal, fundamental questions that we call philosophical or moral. We can say that they live in a global coordinate system. In the particular, they are able to see the general, and no, even the brightest particular manifestations, will hide the general picture from them. Their coordinate system or value system is never based on small-town patriotism, as a rule, it reflects the experience of the entire history of mankind, it does not meet momentary needs, not social orders, but the requirements of the era. In a word, these people are in some sense undoubtedly philosophers, although their philosophy is not necessarily scientific, sometimes it is what can be called worldly philosophy.

Of course, this attitude affects almost all aspects of their lives. Thus, for example, one of the main symptoms with which we began our study of the holistic syndrome of self-actualization and which we designated as breadth (or non-pettiness) is undoubtedly a manifestation of this more general characteristic. The ability to rise above the ordinary, the ability to renounce particularities, expand the horizons of perception, look at things in perspective, sub specie aeternitatis (“From the point of view of eternity” (lat.)) is of great social importance. Apparently, it is precisely this ability that explains the tranquility inherent in self-actualized people, their ability to remain calm, not to worry over trifles — properties that make life easier not only for themselves, but also for the people around them.