Servant x Service  follows five civil servants working at the welfare department of  a ward office. The show is strongly reminiscent of the British comedy The Office. Maybe it’s because college graduation was four years ago for me, but it was kind of refreshing to see an anime set in an office instead of set at school.

Although I’m not a civil servant, my jobs, present and past, usually involve  customer service situations similar to the ones in Servant x Service. I could definitely relate to a lot of them.

Like this one…

And this one…

and ESPECIALLY this one….

The main character, Lucy Yamagami, is one of the newest employees of the office. Surprisingly, Lucy didn’t want the glamourous job of a civil servant for the low pay, zero respect or boring work. She had her own agenda apart from job satisfaction. She got the job…

Lucy is a shortened version of her real name which is actually Lucy with about 10 other names tacked on to the end of it. Her parents could not think of a name so they took a list of names other people suggested and made that list her name. Instead of her parents, she blames the civil servant that approved the document and wants revenge on that person.

So, for this ridiculous reason, she has forgone whatever real job she wanted to do to search for the civil servant that approved her birth certificate and do….um…..something. She is so convinced that because she FEELS her name should deeply affect others opinions that it DOES affect them despite evidence to the contrary. She is living out a self-fulfilling  and self-defeating prophecy that she can never be truly accepted or do normal things all because of her name.

Her delusional situation made me think of some of my own delusional situations. While not as dramatic, my own opinions that I project on others and on God have affected my life in rather hindering ways. This is something I especially struggled with, and still do at times, with my relationship with God.

Many times, I would take the ways I would feel about myself and project them onto God, convinced he must feel the same way. If I was angry with myself, then clearly God was angry with me. If I was disappointed in myself, then clearly God was disappointed in me. If I had given up on myself, then I guess God has given up on me.

It took me a long time to start and differentiate between what I felt about myself and what God thought of me. Fortunately, God is much fonder of me than I am of myself.

Unfortunately, sometimes this projection can come not only from myself but from misguided persons around me, which makes it even harder to fight.

Lucy reveals in the anime that this view of herself was encouraged a bit by her time in school. She was teased throughout her school years because of her name ( while it may have been because of her reaction to her name, which is very dramatic.)

 

There are times when, well meaning or not, people take their own misguided assumptions and force them onto others. For me, this has caused unnecessary guilt and stress. That’s why it is so important to go to the source instead of just taking it from other people. If you want to know what God thinks of you or what he wants you to do, pray and read his word. Others can help sometimes, but people are not perfect. Also, in some situations, people are not out for your best interests. There unfortunately are wolves among the sheep.

In the anime, the reality of the situation was, while her co-workers thought her name was unusual, they were pretty much indifferent to her name. They actually appreciated Lucy for her hard work and reliability. They didn’t care about her name but actually found dealing with Lucy’s reaction to it difficult.

I want to remember that when I lose faith in myself and in God’s love for me, it affects the people around me. I’m not being a light for the world when I snuff myself out. Being refreshed in God’s word and holding onto his promises is the only way I can keep going. No matter what, God will keep working with me because he is the one that works in me anyway, not me.

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Philippians 1:6