Some thoughts on my role as a spiritual leader

This is something inspired by my grad school application essay questions, as well as my years of studying Sufism. It was one of those wake-up-in-the-morning-and-grab-a-pen kind of moments. Some might say "a download".

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The role of the spiritual leader is to be in remembrance and affirmation as constantly as possible of The Oneness, and of their own holiness, their own sacredness, their own majestic and unknowable value and to extend this remembrance to all beings and all creation. When this knowing is available as certainty, to carry it with optimism and grace in a way that is contagious but not arrogant. When this knowing contains doubt, to carry that with gentleness and humility in an atmosphere of inquisitive and supportive self-reflection.

Religious leadership involves prioritizing whatever thoughts, practices and behaviors root us deeply in our own sense of the sacred. To daily intend to draw water from these wells, and to give in service from that place of fullness. To be sensitive to the momentary perceptions of abundance or paucity in terms of inner resources, and to understand when to outwardly minister and when to inwardly replenish. To model these ideals, and to help those who are drawn near and who ask how they too might connect more deeply with their source.

Religious leadership involves facing life with a sincere heart, making choices according to a sense of ethics, and taking action from a place of guidance with a sensitivity towards intentions, energetics and effect. A spiritual leader approaches hurdles with reverence for the full authentic emotional palate, and with a sense of humor and a fine appreciation of paradox. A spiritual leader is powerfully merciful towards self and others when witnessing not only the possibilities but also the pitfalls and limitations of being embodied as perfectly imperfect human beings on a very non-linear path of becoming.

The role of a spiritual leader is to hold hearts with compassion, to have empathy for suffering, and to believe in deep and infinite creative possibilities. To shine light on the sacred "I am" and the sacred "I can" available to each of us. To remind us to connect with our passions and to live whole-heartedly from our inspirations. To affirm our birthright belongingness in a beloved community of spiritual journeyers ever more deeply becoming ourselves as we pass through the trials that reveal our essences and wrestle with the guardian obstacles on our ways to deepening in creative, life-giving community.

These are many of the concepts of religious leadership that I understand in relation to my own call, the demeanor that I aspire to and often do embody, the values I revere, embrace, and by which I am nourished. In my own walking, I aspire to be and do all these things in a mostly transparent way. I've seen that those who say they've learned deeply from me have done so through knowing me, through witnessing my own process of wrestling and becoming. I aspire to stand with and next to those who seek my ministry, to empower their own leadership, to draw out their own creativity, and to affirm their own direct connection with the Divine as they understand It. I am blessed to have assisted in the enlivening of people by nurturing the rediscovery and celebration of their own powerful wholeness, and by creating space for people to spiritually unfold, discover and celebrate the power of Love and essential Oneness together in beloved community. I have ministered with these values, and hope to continue to do so, in myriad ways.