Stability.
When the monastic makes a vow of stability, it is a vow designed to still the wandering heart.... There comes a period in life when I regret every major decision I've ever made. That is precisely the time when the spirituality of stability offers its greatest gift. Stability enables me to outlast the dark, cold places of life until the thaw comes and I can see new life in this uninhabitable place again. But for that to happen, I must learn to wait through the winters of my life.
~ Joan Chittister
rooted, 9.
Today’s post is a timely excerpt from Jerome’s book Gravitas: The Monastic Rhythms of Healthy Leadership (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2020), 43-45.
Here’s a little secret… (maybe you’ve already figured this out): The crux of being an effective leader is being an effective person. Did you catch that? As Ruth Haley Barton puts it, “The best thing any of us have to bring to leadership is our own transforming selves.”
When your roots are deep and you are taking in great draughts of the love and life of God, you thrive—and then your leadership thrives. There are practical leadership skills to be honed for sure, but those skills only produce healthy leadership dynamics once you are already experiencing life as a healthy soul.
As we leave behind our compulsions to push the envelope by fanning the flame of urgency, and as we receive the gift of stability that comes from reveling in our belovedness, then effective leadership can emerge. Then spiritual authority is activated and imparted. Does that call to something deep in you?
Leadership stability is like the keel on a sailboat. A keel is a simple structure—a flat piece of wood or fiberglass that sticks down from the bottom of the hull below the surface and plows through the water as the craft moves forward. To a novice, it might seem a bit superfluous, but it serves a crucial function—it keeps the boat from slipping sideways across the water instead of cutting cleanly through it. It provides stability plus direction.
And this is where unrooted leaders often fail, even Christian ones. A squall springs up, a crisis emerges, and people are panicking. Like in Jonah’s story, the team is throwing overboard everything that’s not bolted down in a desperate bid to stay afloat. Clear thinking and broad perspective are the first casualties when the stakes are this high and you’re taking on water fast. The mettle of a leader will be displayed right here. If you can hear the whisper of the Spirit amid the thunder, then you’re a person of stability. You have a keel. And this one quality can be the difference between sinking and surfing.
The disciple James continues our nautical theme when he describes it this way:
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. (Jas 1:6-8)
No matter whether your leadership operates in the family room or the boardroom, in serving communion or in serving the community, you need a keel. You and I need the principle of stability operating at full capacity. Benedict knew it then, and wise spiritual leaders know it now.
growing your soul
What is your “keel”? What provides stability and direction?
serving our world
Where does your community need stability and direction… and what can you do to help?
takeaway
Stability first. Then movement.