The people we follow are the measure of our own test of character. They demonstrate and concretize,
they manifest and institutionalize our own ideals of leadership, our own commitment to leadership, our
own legacy to the world.
If we want to lead the world to compassion, we must choose for ourselves leaders who embody
compassion, rather than the uncaring face of power.
If we want to lead the world to wholeness, we must follow the peacemakers, not the warmongers.
If we want to lead the world to freedom, equality must mean more to us than domination, than control,
than double standards that treat men one way, women another, the rich one way, the poor another,
whites one way, people of color another, majorities one way, minorities another.
Justice must mean more to us than power.
Ideals must mean more to us than public approval.
If we want to inspire those we leave behind with the conviction and the will to go on doing good, doing
justice, doing right, we must choose leaders who are more real than their image. Who choose people
over projects.
But that can only happen if we choose our own heroes wisely. If we always, always, always see what we’
re looking at and say what we’re seeing. If we ourselves become the compassion we talk about.
The great leaders of history have always been those who refused to barter their ideals for the sake of
their personal interests and who rebelled against the lies of their times.
Real leaders don’t live to get to the top of a system. They live to save the soul of it—and they will go on
doing that whether they are elected or not.
“As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs,” Clarence Darrow warns us. “And if no leader
objects and no leader rebels, those wrongs will last forever.”
If we really want to lead, we must inspire the world to go on struggling to rebel so that what obstructs
us from being fully human together may be seen for what it is, be converted into good, and become
the sweet sound of justice heard in every corner of the world.
To save the age we must choose leaders who will rebel—rebel against the lies, rebel against the
violence, rebel against anyone or anything that leads us to believe that either self-service or force can
save us now.
We must choose leaders who will lead us and the world back to our best selves. And inspire us again!
–from the Benetvision eBook, Leadership: More Integrity than Politics by Joan Chittister.
they manifest and institutionalize our own ideals of leadership, our own commitment to leadership, our
own legacy to the world.
If we want to lead the world to compassion, we must choose for ourselves leaders who embody
compassion, rather than the uncaring face of power.
If we want to lead the world to wholeness, we must follow the peacemakers, not the warmongers.
If we want to lead the world to freedom, equality must mean more to us than domination, than control,
than double standards that treat men one way, women another, the rich one way, the poor another,
whites one way, people of color another, majorities one way, minorities another.
Justice must mean more to us than power.
Ideals must mean more to us than public approval.
If we want to inspire those we leave behind with the conviction and the will to go on doing good, doing
justice, doing right, we must choose leaders who are more real than their image. Who choose people
over projects.
But that can only happen if we choose our own heroes wisely. If we always, always, always see what we’
re looking at and say what we’re seeing. If we ourselves become the compassion we talk about.
The great leaders of history have always been those who refused to barter their ideals for the sake of
their personal interests and who rebelled against the lies of their times.
Real leaders don’t live to get to the top of a system. They live to save the soul of it—and they will go on
doing that whether they are elected or not.
“As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs,” Clarence Darrow warns us. “And if no leader
objects and no leader rebels, those wrongs will last forever.”
If we really want to lead, we must inspire the world to go on struggling to rebel so that what obstructs
us from being fully human together may be seen for what it is, be converted into good, and become
the sweet sound of justice heard in every corner of the world.
To save the age we must choose leaders who will rebel—rebel against the lies, rebel against the
violence, rebel against anyone or anything that leads us to believe that either self-service or force can
save us now.
We must choose leaders who will lead us and the world back to our best selves. And inspire us again!
–from the Benetvision eBook, Leadership: More Integrity than Politics by Joan Chittister.
Thoughts on the national election
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