Does 'service' = spirituality?

A friend wrote me about the centrality of SERVICE in the spiritual life,
with the idea that the Ascended Masters did it, and we should too...

I believe service into the world occurs as fruit of our life as spirit in this world, and it comes in it season.  But, it should not be an end in itself, or even necessarily a means to a spiritual end, unless we are actively led in our unique spiritual path, to a particular service in a a specific space/time.

So, I wrote her to say:

If I try to think about the Master's priorities and how they serve, I could write a whole book.
But, keeping it simple is Key.

When I asked what Master's look like, what they all have in common, I saw a picture that looks like:

Being one with the Light,
like being in a waterfall of light, very bright.
Aligned with Source, as well as grounded in the physical world.

From my perspective, how that occurs in the physical,
is completely unique manifestation, focus and energies for each Master– as it is for each of us!
And of course they share things in common.

On a spiritual level, I see how it manifests; it spiritually looks like clouds, or waves, billowing out from the Master, in all directions (when the waterfall hits bottom it plumes out...).
From my perspective, it is the energy billowing out that is the service the Master offers in this world,
Not any particular way it looks on the physical…

On the physical - Peach trees make peaches, plum tress make plums.
They just do it, no effort, no shoulds, no agenda, no try.
It is like falling off a log – and there is fruit ; )

My friend responded, in support of her focus that service is spirituality:

Christ taught, he spoke, he did miracles. In teaching he filled the hearts of many. In speaking he brought hope to many. In performing miracles he was an example of breaking the shackles of this world to many. But it was in his actions with the poor, the sick, the helpless and the discarded ... did he show the many.

My response: yes, and...
Jesus, from my perspective, did a whole lot of NONE of that for ~ 30 years.
Three decades is a Very Long Time.
He was Jesus the Christ and he did relatively nothing of note for ~10/11ths of his whole entire human life!

I believe out of (from, because of) his quiet, non-obviously miraculous/healing/serving/inspirational/freedom-producing/demon-casting/etc 30 years, he was ready for public ministry.
Before that, not-so-much…

He did his work, deepened in himself and in the Father, increased in Knowledge and Power, etc.
He was centered in who he was and what God had him to do.
Then and only then did he go out to serve… as he was led/called to do, not just any ol' thing!

Even then, in the last ~ 3 years of his life, he was constantly moving away from the crowds. He consistently sought out the quiet, if he had to at night, to be with the Father, to do his spiritual work – or else he couldn’t have done what he did.

Great fruit. Amazing fruit. Fruit comes in its season, not before.