T.S. Eliot’s amazing and confounding poem, The Hollow Men, contains the following words:
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Heather Van Aelst says this in her analysis of the The Hollow Men:
“This section of the poem deals with the true cause of hollowness- failing to make that choice that was once offered, failing to take action, giving in and living only as a shadow. The shadow has had a chance to recognize the difference between salvation and damnation and has either rejected that chance or failed to choose between the two.”
Is this a post about leadership or English literature? Here’s my point:
Leadership exists to keep people from taking the path of least resistance.
The Shadow is everything that resists us, blocks us, and otherwise stops us from taking action.
It’s a temptation for everyone. We talk a good game. We’re all armchair quarterbacks to some degree. We have these great ideas, but when it comes to executing them we freeze and don’t take action. Or we refuse to make the difficult choice. Or we give up because it’s too hard, and allow ourselves to become stuck. The Shadow falls and the moment of greatest opportunity passes.
No. This must not stand.
Leaders, first we must push through from conception to creation; seeing our ideas become reality. We must not allow those things that stir our emotions—be it injustice, or lost souls, or broken systems—to go on without responding in action.
And then we must lead others there. Out of their complacency, through the Shadow, and to the Light of the Kingdom.
God’s Kingdom is becoming a reality here on earth. God is moving. As leaders we need to break the inertia of the people of God, so they can follow His lead.