Spiritual Nuggets

Spiritual Nuggets of Faith and Ethical Leadership

1. Think positive thoughts about yourself and you will find new strength and beauty in your inner self.

2. Don’t spend so much time waiting for a large voice from on high to speak to you that you stumble over the whispers that are right at your feet.

3. By way of love, we add to morality and justice both mercy and integrity—the foundations of our spiritual being that enable us to appreciate the uniqueness of other persons and their situations.

4. The gift of honest dialogue is the richest and most enduring gift we can give to others.

5. The experiences that we have and share with each other are how we reveal ourselves and give meaning to our lives. Sharing also authenticates who we are and those with whom we share. Relationships are the way we think; they connect life to life and are the foundations of ethics.

6. Kindness to others may be the first moral step we take.

7. A positive sense of self is needed for building bridges to others.

8. Our character is revealed in our actions.

9. Life is an invention; live it with diligent wisdom.

10. Listen to your inner voice, to your dreams. Play with their possible meanings for your life. Listen with purpose. This is our pathway to tomorrow.

11. Dialogue has in it the initiative to expose the subtlety of our prejudices and identify the distortions in our own worldview so that we might look and listen to our cultural heritage with greater care. Listen to others, and listen with care.

12. Allow your soul to awaken to the music that lies within you.

13. Hope is our foundation, and hard work and consistency are the values that will sustain us through the good times and the difficult periods of our life.

14. Living with a commitment to compassion and integrity is living from the foundations of our faith while reaching to our moral horizons.

15. Our ethical purpose challenges us to allow dignity and moral integrity to influence our actions in positive and responsible ways.

16. Nothing essential in human life can be changed for the better without first attending to our inner disharmony.

17. As we bring unity and harmony to our inner lives, we give birth to those moral and spiritual values that connect our lives to others and bring creative power to our community.

18. Hope asks us to see the best in other people, to connect with cultures that differ from our own, and reminds us not to condemn or make fun of that which seems different.

19. We can never find wholeness if some of the pieces of ourselves are missing.

20. Our humanity compels us to recognize the dignity of others and their ability to make choices.

21. Without human respect and responsibility, leadership becomes merely a celebration of disorder and superficiality.

22. Get hold of your humanity, and, in so doing, learn to serve others with dignity and purpose.

23. In trusting, giving, and loving we create community.

24. By trusting we add value to others even as value is being added to us.

25. In our relationships with others we give birth to our inner and communal lives—new birth such as this is always possible. There is joy when it is experienced.

26. Servant leadership is a moral deepening that frees us from the defenses and masks we wear.
27. The life you live is a gift; share your gifts and let others share their gifts with you.

28. If we view the struggle for perspective positively, we can see that it provides an opportunity for growth and renewal.

29. All of us need time for renewal. Our physical, mental, social, and emotional health depends on the attention we give to this activity.

30. Beliefs literally create our reality; they are the lenses through which we interpret the world.

31. Giving, not taking, exemplifies a moral life.

32. Accepting our own humanity is recognizing our connection to others.

33. Our faith enables us to understand the dignity and worth of other persons. It is our criteria for behaving; our life expectancy in a complex world. By turning inside we discover that faith is no mere addendum to life and work, or to reason and wisdom. Rather, faith is the foundation, and provides the purpose, meaning, and ability to respect and treat properly the life that is in the image of God.

34. We are what we hope for, what we imagine, and what we are committed to work for. Nothing comes easy, and, in this life, nothing is cheap.

35. Love is not love until we give it away.

36. This is the reality of our ethical lives—we are others and what we do always affects them and us.

37. Freedom requires courage.

38. Generosity is contagious. It’s the essence of servant leadership.

39. Potential leaders learn to listen and respect the ideas of others.

40. Friendships help us sustain our spirituality.

41. Internal freedom has a spiritual dimension. Somehow we are never happier than when we are expressing the deepest gifts that reflect both our vision and purpose of living a good life.

42. Leadership is a moral expression of our inner life and our communal relationships, one that moves outward into a life of action and one that turns inward to the endless sources of our consciousness and being.

43. Purpose doesn’t have to be grandiose and magnanimous; it is often found in the simple behaviors of good people going about their daily lives.

44. Our values spring from the interaction of reason with belief and belief with our perceived purposes. Get in touch with, clarify, understand, and grasp your ultimate meaning. Know that there are fundamental values. Understand them. There will be limits, so let your faith guide you.
45. We need to understand that until our individual inner disharmony is healed by spiritual energy, there can be no harmony, no enduring love, in relation to our neighbor.

46. Morality, like spirituality, is built on transcendence—transcending our prejudices and willing the good for all people, avoiding the narrowing of belief and accepting our human commonalities.

47. Faith can provide the story line for our lives and thus a sense of continuity and coherence in the midst of a fragmented and confusing world.

48. The ultimate challenge is sharing your gifts, bringing your inner resources, your highest Self, out into the world for others.

49. Moral leadership is an act of creation where both the knower and the known are changed, hopefully for the better.

50. Forget the dangers and focus on the opportunities that ethical commitment brings your way. Here you will find the purpose that only giving and service provide.

51. The promise of moral community calls for integration, protection of diversity, and reconciliation of interests. It also demands responsible choice and civility.

52. When there is civility, differences are adjudicated, not erased, and discord is channeled into self-preserving paths.

53. When leaders commit themselves to their work and to respect those whom they serve, wonderful and magical things happen.

54. It is no longer a secret, what we value determines very largely what we do. Others will want to be a part of it.

55. Providing service and support for others will guide your leadership potential. Anchor your leadership in the context of your spirituality and let moral truth be your guide.

56. Without supportive contexts of nurture and sustenance, and of inspiration as well, our very selfhood is at risk.

57. To be civil is to exercise morality in public affairs, which includes moderation in pursuing one’s own interests, and concern for the common good.

58. Moral leadership requires seeking a balance and in that seeking, finding a way to govern that improves those with whom we work.

59. Civility is the virtue of the person who shares responsibility in his own self-governance.

60. Respect is perhaps the key to our developing moral civility. Respect levels the playing field and engenders our moral response to our community and environment.

61. We are capable of continual growth, but growth demands openness to the environment.

62. Endurance, achievement and dedication in the face of adversity and loss accompany the individual who follows his or her own spiritual map. Life is not easy. To stay on the spiritual and moral course to accomplishment requires much sacrifice and diligence.

63. As you stand on the edge of achievement let go of past restrictions and discover the knowledge and certainty that sets you apart from the ordinary. Understand the importance of who you are and what you are doing; follow your spiritual map; break away from the age-old constraints of narrow doctrine and accepted instruction. What you can become is perhaps much more than you are ready to believe.

64. A goal of leadership is to also become a positive force in the transformation of others. The choice is ours.

65. To sustain the relationships that give meaning and significance to our life requires constant moral maintenance.