Council for Health and Human Service Ministries

Word and Deed: Thoughts on Faith-Based Leadership

The Edifying Eight

I recently heard a sermon that provided some insight on how small changes can make a significant impact on our lives. For example, by saying grace over every meal we develop an attitude of gratitude. Over a ten-year period that could add up to more than 20,000 times--deepening the waters of our soul each time we dine.

In his book Always We Begin Again - The Benedictine Way of Living, author John McQuiston II reflects on these sorts of daily practices that "can raise our spirits, and change our perspectives and our lives." McQuiston's book is an interpretation of The Rule of Saint Benedict, a sixth-century guide for Benedictine monastic life that continues to be a spiritual guide for contemporary monastics and laypeople today. Here are some of McQuiston's reflections:

  1. Do whatever is done in the spirit of thanksgiving.
  2. Each day resolve to treat each hour as the rarest of gifts.
  3. Each good action we perform is like a blow from a sculptor's chisel, cutting away the dross, and shaping the ideal form hidden within the stone.
  4. What is taught by example is more significant than what is taught by words.
  5. The true leader should never value things above the value of attitude. The worth of right perspective is beyond measure.
  6. We must always be prepared to cast aside our own agendas whenever we have the opportunity to be of service to another.
  7. Our ability to listen should be our gift to those around us. If you hear yourself talking excessively, take care.
  8. Cultivate humility. To be exalted is to be in danger.

Shirley Nelson

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