The Server Role

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The Server Role

BY PHILLIP WITTMEYER

The Server is naturally inspired to make the world a better place to live in. He derives his primary satisfaction by heartfelt concern for the quality of life. His foremost fulfillment is to make things more comfortable in a material sense for himself and those around him.

This Role was originally called "Slave", but this word gives a connotation to the Role which is not necessarily valid. In the Negative Pole of -Bondage, a Server can be like a slave in the sense that he feels as if he is carrying the world as a burden on his shoulders. He may feel like he is a lowly drudge who is yoked to a menial job. He may feel that his whole life is filled with one obligatory chore after another, just like a slave in past cultures. But the Positive Pole of Service is one of helping, caring, nurturing, sustaining, attending, aiding, and consoling. Of the Roles, the Server would probably be considered the most "feminine" in our culture, because of these "mothering" qualities.

Of the Roles, the Server is the most just plain human. There are more Servers than any other Role. They are common man, your everyday person. Servers are the "backbone" of society. Metaphorically speaking, they are the back of the body of mankind, bearing up the burdens of the world to make it a better world. Servers identify with mankind because they feel for the sufferings of others — and mankind does indeed suffer. Servers are more aware of this than other Roles. When they manifest their highest nature, Servers want to ease this suffering by taking the problems upon themselves, and doing what is necessary to alleviate the pain. They are neither too proud to ask for help for themselves if they need it nor to give aid to others in need. Servers true to their essence will give "the shirt off their back" if requested by a needy person. They are normally very charitable toward others, even if they themselves are not well off.

And usually Servers are not all that "well off". Since they feel their own commonality and ordinariness, they are not likely to desire to rise to prominence or wealth. They normally feel undeserving of riches. (If they do gain financial success, they may very likely feel guilty about it, and give away much to humanitarian or charitable causes. After all, are there not so many others who need it more than they?) For this reason, it can be said that Servers lack ambition as a general rule. In the more base or lowly instances, Servers are the most likely of the Roles to be on the receiving end of welfare or other public assistance. This is partly because of the lack of ambition to excel as mentioned above, and partly because a Server is more likely to be willing to subsist on the meager income that welfare provides. Servers feel meager about themselves, and they can live in a meager situation. Paucity and moderation is part of their nature, rather than abundance and excess.

This scarcity applies not only to financial matters, but also to other aspects of living. For instance, Servers are often prone to forego the fancier pleasures of life. They tend to stick to the simple pleasures of modest home and average family. They are usually very serious about life, and so do not easily laugh off the problems they face. Because of their inherently domestic nature, travel is normally not a big need of theirs -they prefer to stay with the familiar and the homey.

According to Michael, Servers make marvelous grandmothers. I know one such and it is a fact. When at her home, she is always solicitous of my welfare. Did I get enough to eat? Is the temperature of the house OK? Is the couch comfortable enough or do I need another throw pillow? Are there enough covers on the bed? And so on. Servers regard it as their duty to look after others. They see the people of the world as their honored guests with themselves as the hosts. They want to raise the comfort level of those who come under their care, and in a more general sense they would like to raise the standard of living of the world.

Servers are on the ordinal axis of inspiration, operating in the universe in a downward motion, so to speak, in the sense of quality. That doesn't mean that Servers seek lower quality, at least not in the Positive Pole of this Process. But it does mean they seek humanitarian and worldly values as distinct from psychological and spiritual values — so called "higher" values. Servers value the physical amenities and creature comforts of life. This motion is opposed to the upward motion toward the supernatural. That is, the Server identifies strongly with humanity, whereas the Priest (see next section) identifies strongly with the transcendent qualities of life.

Servers want to eliminate the superfluous and get right down to the things that are truly essential — the things that make life really worthwhile. To a Server this usually means things like home and family — domestic qualities. A Server feels more "at home" at home than anywhere else in the world. What could be more important and necessary than this? This is what a Server values. Like people in the Reservation Mode, Servers typically hold themselves back from exaggerated, extreme, or wild behavior, feelings, or thoughts. They do not find this becoming. Rather, they seek to do their humanitarian good works in a meek and quiet way, not for praise or show. If the Self-Deprecation Feature makes a person view himself as humble and poor, more so the Server Role. Rarely do Servers seek to gain notoriety in the world. Since they view themselves as just plain people, the idea of being outstanding or great doesn't feel right to them. Like the Stoic, a Server feels that life is more or less fated to be the way it is, and there is not much use getting bent out of shape about it. Life is a bitch, but so what? We are all in the same boat. We just have to make the best that we can of the bad situation we find ourselves in. An Emotionally Centered person has emotional reactions to everything in his life, and the Server likewise is attuned to the feeling aspect of existence. What is the quality of this thing he is experiencing? The Emotional Center often induces a person to cry about things, and the Server is also in touch with the pains of life, and seeks to comfort the suffering or eliminate the anguish. Servers can commiserate with the agony that is in the world more than any other Role, because they are also in touch with their own anguish.

It is because of their humanness and sensitivity to the suffering of others that Servers are so good at the healing profession. This is where they feel they belong. This is where their inherent talent for comforting others is best revealed and used to benefit mankind. The quintessential Server occupation is medicine, in such careers as doctoring and nursing. The job here is to make the physical body well again, to ease the pain, to comfort the sick, to sustain the ailing, to dress the wounds, to nurture the ill.

Other suitable occupations for Servers are cook, waiter or waitress. Here is another excellent way to serve mankind in a material sense, caring for his physical needs in terms of food. Another meaningful career is retail sales in something like clothing or household goods, and for the same reasons listed above — these items are valuable for making life more comfortable in the domestic realm. Thus many Server females find their niche in society as housewives or homemakers. This is perfect for them as they normally find children and homemaking genuinely fulfilling. Other appropriate jobs are such things as social worker, maid, day care attendant, and public servant, -anything that has to do with serving or helping the public as an attendant to their physical needs, caring for their welfare or well-being. This is the activity a Server does better than any other Role type. In whatever career a Server finds himself, he will usually apply a measure of caring and assisting to it. Servers regard and perform sex as a service also.

If there is a physical appearance that is common to most Servers it would be that there is a plainness about them. They rarely give the appearance that there is anything particularly outstanding about them. They do not want to seem remarkable in the eyes of their fellow man. Even if they do achieve some status in the world, one would not usually discern this by looking at them. Even if they should dress fancy, their demeanor of commonness shows nevertheless. Their spirit is meek and mild, and this shows in their facial expression and the way they carry their bodies.

Because of their inherent humility, not many Servers rise to prominence in the world, but some have that have been identified as Servers. For instance, Mother Teresa and Queen Victoria.

Next page | The Priest Role

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Phil Wittmeyer is a longtime Michael student and scholar of the teachings. He can be reached at: wittmeyer@hotmail.com