Greenleaf writes: I went through a long wilderness period in which I sought resources outside myself and ignored the rich endowment in my own uniqueness –the great inward source of inspiration which every man can claim as his own because of his own access to it. Only as what is uniquely me emerges do I experience moments of true creativity, moments which when deeply felt temper the pain of long periods of frustration that are the common lot of most of us and give me the impulse and the courage to act with force and wisdom in the outside world. [The Searcher and The Seeker, 1966. Draft, p.4]
I know many folks, including myself, who have experienced a long wilderness period and who have sought resources outside of one’s self while ignoring the rich endowment of one’s own uniqueness. When I search outside of myself I search ‘to find’ through reading; I once believed that if I found the right book then I would, finally, have all of the answers. I then moved to hoping that if I read enough books that I would find the answers. I do trust my own inner endowment more than I have and I like to think that I read in order to learn, or in order to challenge my thinking, or in order to stretch my experiences or simply in order to search and seek more than I read in order ‘to find.’
What outside resources do you, Gentle Reader, use rather than engage your own rich endowment of your own uniqueness?
Here is a photo gifted to me by my friend George (2018). It captures, for me, the wilderness.
Servant As Leader 