... surviving in the tensions, the very threads that challenge, push and pull, and ultimately strengthen my vision.
More from Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, (seeking God in the crucible of ministry) by Ruth Haley Barton:
"NOT FOR THE FAINT AT HEART--
Leadership that functions creatively and spiritually in the midst of paradox is not for the faint of heart. It is much easier to give in to one polarity or the other. Peter Senge notes in The Fifth Discipline,
“Emotional tension can always be relieved by adjusting the one pole of creative tension that is completely under our control at all times—the vision. The feelings that we dislike go away because the creative tension that was their source is reduced. Our goals are now much closer to our current reality. Escaping emotional tension is easy—the only price we pay is abandoning what we truly want, our vision.”
A spiritual leader is not willing to merely escape emotional tension; rather he or she has the stamina and staying power to remain in that place of creative tension until a third way opens up that somehow honors both realities. " - Ruth Haley Barton
No comments:
Post a Comment