"Give us, O God,
leaders whose hearts are large enough
to match the breadth of our own souls
and give us souls strong
enough
to follow leaders of vision and wisdom...
Give us the hearts to choose the leader
who will work with other leaders
to bring safety
to the whole world...
Give us insight enough
ourselves
to choose as leaders those who can tell
strength from power,
growth from greed,
leadership from dominance,
and real greatness
from the trappings of grandiosity..."
~ Sister Joan Chittister
Amen.
And may we become the kind of people we want our leaders to be.
What does that mean for you? What qualities, what virtues, what kind of character do you want to see in leaders?
Ideally, I'd like to see inner strength, wisdom, true bravery as opposed to bravado, compassion, hopefulness,
love, joy, vision...essentially the twelve gifts shining through them.
I'd like to see these qualities cultivated, used, and demonstrated in myself, in you, in all of us as well as in our leaders.
I've read and heard it said that our leaders - those in position and the leadership choices we have before us at any given time - are a reflection of who we are.
If this is true - whether or not this is so - it seems that we all have
character-building work to do.
May we each aim to be our best, give our best, and bring out the best in others by how we see them and treat them.
Thank you, Sister Joan for "The Legacy of Leadership: A gift for generations to come" and for all your expressions of love and light in the world.
Thank you all for shining your light and contributing your talent toward making our world a more loving, just, and peaceful place.
Let us pray.
With love,
gratitude, and hope,
Charlene
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HOPE: Through each passage and season may you trust the goodness of life.
(from The Twelve Gifts of Birth)
