Over the past few years I have had the honor of attending the worship services of many faiths – from various Christian groups to Muslim and Jewish groups, to groups that claim spirituality without a specified denominational affiliation.
The sincerity and conviction of each group I’ve spent time with is authentic. Clearly, all are believers—all are driven by their unique versions of faith.
The threads of commonality are clearly all driven by values. What constitutes the roots of these shared values? Whether they stem from tradition, family, affiliates, friends, scripture, leaders, mentors or from personal experience, the shared commonality is what really does make up a beautiful tapestry of shared humanity—-a tapestry of faith.
With all of this, there seems to be many—in ALL generations, who are adrift in terms of defined values. Perhaps this is a result of those who no longer attend organized religion, or who have decided to blaze their own trail in establishing their own values, but have not yet determined HOW to take the first steps.
After nearly a half century of living, and considering myself a person who lived with ethics and values, I realized that I had not actually defined clearly the values I espoused and had not put pen to paper regarding my own value statement. I decided to do it. I teach this in chapter two of Launching Leaders: An Empowering Journey for a New Generation (formerly titled Leadership by Light). For me this process included the following steps, which I define with detail in the book:
- Find holy ground
- Ponder, meditate, pray
- Write down your core value statements
- Align your core values with your faith
- Live the values and be transformed
This process took months. This discovery was not just about finding the bedrock of my values, but creating the blue print for living INTO the values I believe in. That’s the transformation part.
I believe that the tapestry of faith we celebrate can be even more enhanced on a personal level through the process of defining our own core values. I believe this process of defining the roots of our values will add to the beauty of humanity. I invite everyone to get a copy of the Launching Leaders book (Christian or Multi Faith edition) and dive in. Enjoy the journey.
