Last weekend on Gabriola, a tree blew down in a violent windstorm and blocked our driveway. An anonymous neighbour saw the tree in the early morning and took the time and effort to buck it up with a chainsaw so that it could be easily moved and we could get out of the drive. This selfless act of service has made me happy all week and has caused me to reflect on the idea of service or seva. Seva is a Sanskrit word that means service. Seva (www.seva.ca) got its name from an amazing group of people who came together to alleviate the suffering in the world. Many of Seva's founders had served together in India in the program to eradicate smallpox. As Ram Dass has noted in his book "Compassion in Action", this was no small undertaking. It required the collaboration of 35 countries, 2 billion housecalls, the latest technology in vaccines and logistics, and "incredible determination rooted in the faith that such an objective was realizable". That spirit of service still exists at Seva, as does the determination to eradicate preventable blindness and to alleviate human suffering.