© 2012 Olga López
© 2012 Urantia Association of Spain
| Experience and conclusions of the Leadership Symposium | Luz y Vida — No. 29 — June 2012 — Index | News from Urantia Association of Spain |
I am aware that this presentation focuses primarily on leadership within the Urantia movement, and that this may seem like a very limited perspective. I have always said that there are many trenches from which to fight to make this world a better place, where peace and harmony reign and spiritual progress is much more palpable than it is today, and every effort that is dedicated to I find this laudable end useful and valuable, even though it is not directly related to the Urantia teachings.
But here and now I prefer to talk about the trench that I currently know best, and in which I have decided to focus all my efforts, which is that of the Urantia movement. This is also a trench where there is a lot of work to be done and the workers are few, so if I can get someone else to join us in our efforts to release the fifth revelation, I will be more than pleased.
In recent years, much has been said in the Urantia movement about “leaders” and leadership. The word “leader” resonates powerfully and evokes in our minds the image of a charismatic person who leads a more or less large group of people, who obediently follow his guidelines. Faced with this vision, and taking into account our condition as readers of the book, who would define themselves as a leader?
And yet I think we all are. The question “Am I a leader?” it is unnecessary. If we are here it is because we ALREADY are. There is a well-known UB statement that I would like to recall here. It appears in document 81 and says the following:
Leadership is vital to progress. Wisdom, insight, and foresight are indispensable to the endurance of nations. Civilization is never really jeopardized until able leadership begins to vanish. And the quantity of such wise leadership has never exceeded one per cent of the population. (UB 81:6.42)
A few years ago, I read a very interesting article in the Journal, which developed its arguments precisely from this paragraph. The title was very suggestive: Where are my 99? This title, as you can see, assumes that whoever asks that question is included in the one percent of leaders of the population. I think the question makes a very bold and uncomplicated statement, which I think we should embrace to ensure the future success of the fifth revelation.
According to the RAE dictionary, a leader is a “person who is followed by a group, recognizing him or her as a leader or guide”. Personally, I think this definition should be expanded to include another type of leader: what other readers of the book define as “servant-leader.” What was, for example, Jesus of Nazareth. Let us remember his words:
“He who would be greatest among you, let him become server of all.” (UB 56:10.14)
We are going to start by redefining the role of leader, moving away from the stereotype and from the old ways of acting, ways that do not serve us to spread the teachings of UB. First of all, it must be said that it is not necessary to have special skills to be a leader. It is not necessary to be extroverted, charismatic, speak well in public, have the ability to lead the masses. We are not talking about “that” type of leaders, but servant leaders.
Whenever I make excuses or find myself facing a personal challenge, I remember a phrase that helps me to leave behind my fears or my attempts at self-justification. And it is not from the book, but from “Illusions” by Richard Bach. It is part of his “Messiah Manual” and says: Justify your limitations, and you will certainly have them.
Then let’s not justify ourselves. Let’s not make excuses. Let’s not limit ourselves. Many of the people who achieved important things were successful because it didn’t occur to them that what they were proposing was impossible. As the psychiatrist Luis Rojas-Marcos says in his book “The strength of optimism”, pessimists have never invented anything. So let’s be optimistic!
So what does it take to be a leader in the Urantia movement?
Above all, we must aim to serve our fellow men to the best of our ability. Everyone, absolutely everyone, has something that we are good at, something that we can put at the service of others, something with which we can help other people in many different ways. And, in addition, we have the help of our invisible friends, who will give us a hand whenever we ask them to. The important thing, as a former president of the United States said, is to “do what you can with what you have and where you are.”
In the eight years that I have been on the front lines of the Urantia movement, I have had the opportunity to meet many leaders from other countries. I’m sure none of them thought they were going to be a leader when they started reading the book. What’s more, I am convinced that none of them specifically sought it out. And yet circumstances (or the invisible hand of our non-material friends) led them to positions of responsibility and leadership in the movement. It’s something they found along the way and accepted that responsibility when it came time to make that decision. And I will tell you something else: I am convinced that if someone offers us a position of responsibility, it is because we can perform it satisfactorily.
But it is also true that not only will we have to make use of our abilities, but the path of leadership through service will lead us on many occasions to move away from our “comfort zone”. Many times we will be forced or pushed to do things for which we believe we are not capable, or that make us extremely lazy. Many times we will feel uncomfortable when performing a service, but think that this is a good sign. It is a sign that we are growing. Actually, whether we are leaders or not, to progress spiritually you have to make an effort, and that inevitably implies experiencing discomfort. In addition, the feeling of success that comes from overcoming difficulties is very rewarding and is a great encouragement to continue exploring the “terra incognita” that is outside our safety zone. Being a leader and acting as such is equivalent to guaranteed growth.
It is also necessary to take into account that the scope of our leadership can be as wide or as narrow as we propose: it can go from our home to an association. It is true that not all of us are destined to be leaders on a large scale, but who said you have to be? As long as we make a difference in our environment by living according to the teachings of the UB, we can consider ourselves leaders who are successful. And, of course, we must have one thing very clear: The Urantia Book is a means for the spiritual elevation of humanity; it should never be considered an end in itself. Our job in the Urantia movement should not be to get the book out there, in the manner of door-to-door salesmen. The teachings must be alive in us; Only in this way will we provoke in others the thirst for that water of life.
I will tell you a story that I heard at the Fellowship’s international conference in 2008. Imagine the scene: you are walking along the beach, at low tide. Where the sea has receded, there are thousands of starfish that have remained on the sand. Then you see that a man throws them into the sea, one by one. When you approach him, you ask him what he is doing, and he answers: “I am putting the starfish back into the water to save them.” You, in a burst of common sense, exclaim: «But there are thousands of them! You won’t be able to save them all. And the man will smile at you and, showing the starfish he is holding in his hand, will answer you: “It’s true, but I have saved this one!”
Moral: think that you can not only make a difference for a seeker of Truth to whom you make the book known. Consider also that that seeker could, over time, become a leader who, in turn, makes a difference to many other people.
Another of the aspects of leadership that I would like to emphasize is its vital bond with the group of which it is a part. For book dissemination to work, it is vital that the group function satisfactorily. Think of any group: a study group, a local association, a national association. One of the leader’s tasks is for the group to function properly and, in my opinion, this is achieved by making all members make the most of their potential for the good of the group. That would precisely be one of the tasks of the leader. But not only that: the leader should always have his eyes and ears open to any other possible leader who appears on the scene. This movement is not about competing with each other, but about cooperating. At this point, I want to remind you of another quote from the book:
Arithmetic says that, if one man could shear a sheep in ten minutes, ten men could shear it in one minute. That is sound mathematics, but it is not true, for the ten men could not so do it; they would get in one another’s way so badly that the work would be greatly delayed. (UB 133:5.5)
So let’s not get in each other’s way. There is a lot of work to do, and of many kinds: let’s coordinate and share it. Also, remember this other statement from the book:
Mathematics asserts that, if one person stands for a certain unit of intellectual and moral value, ten persons would stand for ten times this value. But in dealing with human personality it would be nearer the truth to say that such a personality association is a sum equal to the square of the number of personalities concerned in the equation rather than the simple arithmetical sum. A social group of human beings in co-ordinated working harmony stands for a force far greater than the simple sum of its parts. (UB 133:5.6)
So, when talking about personalities, (a + b + c + … + n) = (a + b + c + … + n)2
The group is much more than the sum of the people that make it up. Then let’s handle it well because then we won’t just add: we will multiply.
Religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who will dare to depend solely on Jesus and his incomparable teachings. If Christianity persists in neglecting its spiritual mission while it continues to busy itself with social and material problems, the spiritual renaissance must await the coming of these new teachers of Jesus’ religion who will be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of men. And then will these spirit-born souls quickly supply the leadership and inspiration requisite for the social, moral, economic, and political reorganization of the world. (UB 195:9.4)
Have you ever wondered if they were referring to you when you read a paragraph as vibrant as this one? Well, I tell you that they were not only referring to us, but we can be those leaders that this paragraph is talking about. On a more or less small scale, to a greater or lesser degree of influence, we can. So let us put doubts and complexes aside and, when an opportunity arises to serve this wonderful revelation, let us ask ourselves these two questions:
If not me… who?
If not now when?
¶ References
- Light and Life Magazine (all old issues): https://aue.urantia-association.org/numeros-antiguos-del-lyv/
| Experience and conclusions of the Leadership Symposium | Luz y Vida — No. 29 — June 2012 — Index | News from Urantia Association of Spain |