Work as Worship

In 1985, when Tom Talley was contemplating leaving Myrtle Beach where he had moved in 1981, he randomly opened the Discourses and found himself on the Selfless Service chapter. It read, “The spirit of service which is invariably present in aspirants and good persons can be harnessed and creatively utilized for spiritual purposes if it is allied with the work of a Master. The Master serves the whole universe…those who serve the Master and obey him also have their share in his universal work.”

It is no coincidence that he was brought to the subject of service. Perfectionism, attention to detail, and meticulousness are pronounced character traits that define Tom’s work at the Meher Center Gateway. If you were ever paying your bills at the Gateway and saw Tom come out of nowhere to make sure you got your change back correctly, you would have gotten a glimpse of his absolute dedication to his work. Similarly, you might find him diligently sweeping the three steps to the Gateway to get rid of every pine needle, because Elizabeth Patterson always wanted Baba’s entrance to be welcoming. I’ve always seen Tom as someone who exemplifies the proverb, “Work is worship.” What I have learned over the years, though, is that this literal conscientiousness is rooted in the desire to serve, and to serve wholeheartedly.

His story started when he became disillusioned with religion at a very young age. He decided that all religion had to offer were rules and superstitions. But there seems to have been an undercurrent of service, even then. In fact it was this need to help that first brought him to find out about Baba. He offered to help move an acquaintance who he ran into at his university campus in 1977. While helping unload his books he saw the Discourses and the man offered to let him borrow it. “Baba’s teachings tied together various elements from other religions and philosophies I had read about into a comprehensive and intellectually satisfying framework,” he says.

Association with Baba offered Tom the room for a personal path. Among other things like independence and answers to questions about the ultimate reality, he was seeking guidance through intuition and a way to live a good life. Being a naturally skeptical person, it took him a lot of reading of Baba literature and a special experience on his first trip to India in 1980 to finally accept Him as the embodiment of divinity.

Even before visiting Meher Center in 1981, Tom had a passing thought about moving to Myrtle Beach. After Kitty Davy coaxed that thought out of him during his first visit, she pulled out the phone book to look for places Tom could work at in his field of computers. He ended up moving to Myrtle Beach and working for a Baba lover until 1985. Meanwhile he was a volunteer at the Center and had put in a word with Jane Haynes about being a paid worker. That fall he was hired part time to work with Cabin Crew and Grounds. The following year he was made full-time.

Another one of Tom’s lesser known traits is his wry sense of humor. He was happy to have the privilege of working on the Center full time, but he also had a feeling of being trapped. “I questioned if this was for the rest of my life? A life of poverty and drudgery? Then this spontaneous answer appeared in my mind, ‘Until you’re forty.’” And that’s exactly what happened, at forty Tom decided to take a break and work on other Baba projects and a day job. But his connection with the Center was not done; when another opportunity came knocking in the form of a one day a week office job at the Gateway, he took it. That grew into full-time work and here Tom is today.

At the Gateway, we lovingly call Tom ‘the Gateway Micro-Manager.’ He is always ahead of the curve, whether it is keeping all the supplies handy, updating all our computers or having every pencil sharpened. I wonder if he’s the same way at home, “Not at all! I am very lazy in my life outside of work. I hate all personal chores and love watching movies,” he laughs. Ah well, all micro-managers need breaks.