On the Leadership of Self

The following quote is taken from the book, Conscious Capitalism, written by John Mackey (CEO and cofounder of Whole Foods Market) and Dr. Rajendra Sisodia, professor of Global Business at Babson College. Both are cofounders of the nonprofit Conscious Capitalism, Inc.

"Ultimately, our greatest challenge as leaders is to manage and lead ourselves: to make wise choices, to learn and grow and evolve as human beings. Today's world offers us nearly limitless choices, says Peter Koestenbaum: 'We've reached such explosive levels of freedom that, for the first time in history, we have to manage our own mutation. It's up to us to decide what it means to be a successful human being. That's the philosophical task of the age.'
It is also our greatest opportunity for service, and the rewards to our organizations, our families, and ourselves personally are virtually limitless. First we must become more conscious, act in ways that help make the world a better place, and then share our wisdom with the world. That is the hero's journey."
John Mackey and Raj Sisodia

Redemption of the Times is Yet by Christ

The following timely quote is by Richard Caldwell, Jr.
     
     "There is no political fix for what ails this world. There is no human solution to the problem. There is no cultural analysis or commentary or social program that can fix what's wrong. 
     There's only one answer for such a world, there's only one hope in the midst of the chaos, and his name is Jesus. 
     When the light of the gospel confronts the darkness, when the clarity of the gospel cuts through all the confusing voices that we hear in this world, then the sovereign Spirit of God unshackles our souls. When God says, 'Let there be light,' and the light of God shines into the darkened soul of man so that Christ is seen on the pages of Scripture in all of his beauty--and he is loved and he is believed in and embraced for life--there's a new order, a new creation. Old things pass away, all things become new.
     Through that saving work, peace replaces chaos, love replaces warring, compassion replaces pride, God brings order out of disorder. All these new creations, one soul at a time, form one new man in Jesus Christ. Christ is at the head of a new humanity, a redeemed human race."
Richard Caldwell, Jr. 


As I read the above words, and believe them to be true, I know them to be exceedingly difficult, in the every-day, to realize.

As a Christian for 19 years, I read the above words and consider my own failures that took place, and continue to take place, all the while Christ was and is, in theory, guiding me; the mental and emotional stumbling blocks that precluded, and preclude still, Christ's new humanity from being lived out in my own life. 

But at the same time, He has overcome: through the overcoming, as Caldwell states in the quote above, of each soul, albeit gradually and perhaps much too slowly for our patience. 

I look back upon the last nineteen years and thankfully no longer recognize the young woman I was before Christ began His work in me, and I cringe in remembrance of certain actions and attitudes held when I was just beginning to shed the skin of death for Christ's clothing of life.

Christ does overcome. But it is in part and not all at once in each soul. So Christians, though transformed, are yet transforming. Redemption is here, fulfilled in Christ's death, but also not entirely yet in an evidenced perfect kingdom on earth.

Again, I know the quoted Caldwell words to be true, in spite of Christians' inability to always grasp the Messiah's Hand in cooperation, missing the Spirit's whispers of attainable peace and harmony. 

But as a seminary professor once stated, 

"Just imagine the world without the constraint of the Holy Spirit, which holds so much evil and tribulation back." 

Without that constraint, all hell, literally, would break loose. 

And so it is. We as Christians persevere in the goal, like Paul, and continue to run the race, sometimes at a snail's pace, in the confidence and vision of internalizing and imparting as much of Christ as we understand of Him at the time. In as much grace as we allow Him to nurture within us, humanity's redemption, little by little or in leaps and bounds, is on-goingly forged by Christ. 

copyright Barb Harwood

Evil is Not a Thing

I came across this definition of evil that has given me something to think about:

"Evil is not a 'thing'; it is the absence of a thing--the absence of purity and holiness." Ralph O. Muncaster