January 13, 2019, Missionary Cultivation Committee82nd intensive workshop (GLA General Headquarters; broadcast live to 102 locations.)

(Some customers appear at the door of a crowded restaurant. There are no open seats. Two waitresses see them. One passes by without saying anything, but the other comes forward to greet them.) The waitress who ignored the new customers had probably experienced this situation before, which is why she passed by as if she were oblivious to them. She may not have made a conscious decision to ignore the new customers, but her behavior was undoubtedly linked to feelings that she just didn’t want to deal with them right now. The restaurant was crowded and she didn’t feel she could do anything for them.

In our terminology, this was that waitress’s spiritual level and wisdom at that particular moment in time. She probably did not sense that responsibility for the whole restaurant rested on her shoulders.

The other waitress bearing the same burden of responsibility and is just as tired as the first waitress. Yet she appears to go out of her way to find a solution within the limits of her authority. She knows that failing to address the problem can only lead to a bad sequence of events. Disappointed with the bad service or with what appears to be poor management, the customers may decide never to come again.

And there are likely to be other customers witnessing the incident who will each be affected in different ways.

This second waitress could see ahead to the bad sequence of events that was likely to result. Her attitude showed that she was willing to take responsibility for the whole restaurant. She was able to feel concern. Her attempt to speak for the whole restaurant shows that she was capable of feeling concern, capable of protecting the business, and thus was in the In-En side (side of accepting responsibility) .

The issue is the person’s spiritual level and wisdom. Every action that a person takes and the way they interact with the world depends on these factors. So, you see, our spiritual level and wisdom and our individual actions are two sides of the same coin.

January 13, 2019, Missionary Cultivation Committee 82nd intensive workshop, GLA General Headquarters