Issue 524
(This piece is best read in conjunction with the previous edition, Son of Man 32: Leadership)
Have you noticed that sometimes, something can be staring you in the face for so long, that you do not even see it? I’m going to try and help you see something about leadership and alone-ness, which has been staring me, and perhaps you, in the face for some time.
Please think about these statements for a moment:
If you are a plumber and you encounter a plumbing problem in your home, would you not fix it?
If you are a Maths teacher and you need to work out the size of a floor, wall, or some space, would you not use your skills to find the answer?
If you are a nurse and you cut your foot, would you not treat it yourself?
Again, if you are a skilled navigator, would you not find your way to your destination?
You have the point – forgive me if I have overstated it.
And again, what exactly IS the point? May I state it like this: your solutions come out of your ‘I am’-s.
If you can say ‘I am a plumber/teacher/nurse/navigator’, you are also an answer, a solution, depending of course on the question.
And your question today is: How can I handle my alone-ness (especially if you are the leader in your world).
As always, you go to the Son of Man and see how he handled it.
Immediately, you hit a mystery. The Son of Man shows himself to be one with the Father and the Spirit. What we now call the Holy Trinity; the three, and one simultaneously. Can you begin to see that Jesus is showing you that God is community? God is perfect companionship within ‘himself’. God is ‘I AM WHO I AM’.
So the biggest unravelling of the paradox is to understand that the Son of Man shows us a model of being a person which has built-in companionship. Father, Son and Spirit.
It’s a bit mind-blowing for a Monday morning. Stay with me.
The unravelling of your alone-ness will begin when you taste the Trinity. You are invited into the circle, the friendship, the one-ness.
Still a bit lofty and theological?!
Take another look at the Son of Man. We have dared to explore the biblical fact that he was on a journey. When did the baby in Bethlehem know he was the light of the world? When did the boy from Nazareth realize he was the bread of life? When did the carpenter understand that he was the way for others to get to the Father? (Be careful to understand, he always was and is these things, we are only asking when, on his inner journey, he became aware of them)
When his ‘I am’-s became his solutions.
When Jesus lit up his own path, he knew he was the world’s light. When Jesus fed his own soul, he knew he was the world’s food. When Jesus walked the way to his Father, he knew he was THE way to the Father.
Can you see it? The ‘I am’-s within him, talking to each other, empowering each other? The inner shepherd, caring for himself. The inner truth, guiding him. The inner door, opening his path. The inner way, stretching out a life-giving hand.
Everything he offers to the world, he has used for himself. Why would he not? He is a walking, individual, perfect community on earth, showing us a reflection of the one-in-three God, and even more, inviting you in.
Please take some time to reflect on this. When the Son of Man says ‘follow me’, it’s not just a geographical invitation. He’s inviting you to receive the same solutions to the issue of alone-ness that he has revealed. He is inviting you to become fully human, and share in the perfect companionship of the divine.
That is leadership.
Work well.
Geoff Shattock
BIBLE SECTION
John 14:5-10
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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