As our year of Spirituality in Action winds down at CSL Morristown, it’s a good time to take stock of what we’ve learned from the challenges we face as a community.

It’s also a good time to reflect on our individual roles and responsibilities in the evolution of our center for the highest and best.

In the book “The Tao of Leadership” by John Heider, I learned that we are called at times like these not just to be followers, but to embody the spiritual leadership that exemplifies the Science of Mind teaching.

The Tao is an ancient description of the Eternal Spirit called by many names, most commonly God. It is the I Am principle that is creator of all and whose love and law governs the operation of the Universe.

It is the unifying force of all of nature and human life. The Tao is at the center of our Oneness.

In our unity with this eternal presence and power, there is no separation between us, and so what is good for the individual is best for the whole. Recognition of this truth compels each of us to make moral choices based on the highest values and ethics.

We live with the intent of bringing no harm to other sentient beings nor to the natural world.

And because of our individual commitments to spiritual living, honoring everything and everyone as a united whole, we set an example as leaders, not merely followers.

We reinforce this moral code every day by connecting with Spirit in the silence of meditation, Heider says in his book. Here we nurture and affirm the inner humility and cooperation necessary to connect directly with Divine mind.

And in prayer, we lay aside our individual egos, surrendering to the will of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is the place where the collective conscious meets for a common purpose.

This principle of the Tao is called “doing but not doing,” which means we simply participate in spiritual practice and leave the outcome to the Spirit that is all, knows all and is everywhere present.

In so doing, we each exemplify the leadership qualities imbued in us by the Divine.

When we are centered spiritually, we can all play a quiet role in meeting challenges faced by our community.

We need simply to stop and breathe into the silence of meditation, open our minds in prayer with faith and trust that all is well, and join in the collective consciousness of cooperation as we look beyond appearances and conditions.

Heider says that the Tao way of leadership is effortless and full of joy, which is the clearest sign of the presence of God in our lives.