On 7 January, Baba gave this message to the mandali about service to destitute people:
To help the poor, the needy and suffering people is service. Such persons give us the opportunity to serve them and we should be thankful to them. While performing such service, we should not have the least thought of the self; only then can it be called real service. If you think you are obliging those whom you serve, then it is not service, but an act done with an ulterior selfish motive.
If someone abuses us or insults us and becomes the cause of our suffering, or if we are harassed in any way, we should bow down to such a person instead of reacting angrily with him, because he is the means of wiping out our sanskaras. This is what Jesus meant when he said that if someone strikes you on the right cheek, offer him your left.
-www.lordmeher.org, p632
Jan, 1926; Meherabad