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Reliable leadership—its spiritual source
Originally appeared on spirituality.com
I remember, as a third grader, visiting my great-grandmother. She was a young girl at the time of the American Civil War, and when I recited a poem I’d learned in school about Abraham Lincoln, I was shocked to hear her criticize him. To me, Lincoln was a cultural hero—the U.S. President who ended slavery.
To her, Lincoln was a man from Illinois with many flaws, no better than anyone else. This illustrates an important concept: time may idealize certain historic figures, but upon closer inspection, failings among even the best human leaders point to the need for a higher sense of leadership for our nations and our lives.
This isn’t just an abstract or intellectual issue. Today, contentious factions and flawed strategies are arising at national levels, spreading to state and local governments, and playing out in the business community, in clubs and organizations, and in families. But we can also honestly say that it isn’t anything new. The Biblical prophet Isaiah lived at a time of crisis not unlike our own. In fact, several of the same cultures were at war with each other in the eighth century BC as are fighting today.
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About the author
Elaine Follis is a Christian Science practitioner in Quincy, Massachusetts, United States.
