Post 12

I'm not surprised that this "spirituality" stuff became such a big focus in class. It's certainly something I've struggled with, and I think the readings all touched on this idea this week. Like some of the other atheists in class mentioned, I felt a little squirmy when I read the "god" stuff in the readings. But, I just don't know what to think anymore. It used to be easy. I could just skip over that stuff, or read it and laugh. But now, I don't know. I'm trying to see how some of this "spirituality" stuff applies to me. Meaning, I'm trying to look for the deeper meaning. I still don't believe in a higher being, but it would be ridiculous for me to say I don't believe in a higher "power". I guess it depends on how you're defining power. I believe in humanity, and I certainly think that is larger than myself. I still don't consider myself "spiritual". Maybe I'm a humanist (according to Wikipedia, humanism IS compatible with atheism).

So, what does this have to do with servant leadership, and leadership from within? I think it goes back to the humanity piece. I think we all want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. For the servant leader, we serve ourselves by serving others. In order to give back to humanity, we must offer a piece of ourself. But, I think "leaders" must have a strong sense of self, and a good understanding of their values, in order to serve. That's where balance comes into play.

There's this book series I'm really into The Sword of Truth by Robert Goodkind. It's kind of Harry Potter for grownups. And I've struggled with servant leadership since reading the sixth book of this series. One of the ideas proposed in this book (aside from all of the magic, sword fighting, and other fantasy fiction staples) is the idea of what it means to be a truly servant leader. Over the course of the book, the main character is taken hostage and forced to live in a part of the world that follows "the order", in which all people are supposed to sacrifice themselves to the greater good. It's taken to the extreme here, where people feel like they can't make their situations better for themselves, and they're told that such self interests are actually evil. Not cool, right? Well the main character doesn't think so either, and by the end of the book he's able to show people "the truth", only he doesn't tell it to them. He let's them find the vision on their own. But, the part that I think is the most relevant to this idea of servant leadership, is that all the people in this book decide to come together and fight, not because they think that Richard, the main character, is the most charismatic dude ever, but they share the same values and the same vision. And in this sense, they seek to serve the cause, and not just an individual.

Where am I going with all this? I think that you have to know your own values, and you have to know who you are. You need to choose to serve others because they share the same vision. If you don't, you risk losing your own sense of self worth.