Great Leaders
A person who is a great leader is never someone who draws attention to himself of herself for the sake of vanity or fame. Truly great leaders have people who gravitate to them by the sheer force of things that they have achieved or for the power behind the values for which they stand. A truly great leader will leave behind a legacy that will outlive those who knew him or her personally.
The saints are great leaders. Rarely have the saints commanded armies or great economic empires. They normally exercise their influence in relatively limited portion of the world. Yet, we remember these men and women centuries after they have lived and died. It is as though their person is still with us – and in a sense it is!
A great leader is one who lives a moral life and has committed to a set of moral values that are universally acknowledged. The greatness behind their example and leadership is the adherence to their moral law of truth and right. This why we remember to this day and will continue to do so until the end of time. Greatness that is built upon the values and things of the world is passing away! We remember such greatness for as long as the personal contact is there – otherwise the person's memory passes into oblivion and the next person who exercises such economic, political or social power captures our attention. Such greatness is like a passing fad – here in one generation and gone in the next.
The greatness of the truly moral leaders of human history rests in their ability to have borne witness to a set of values that will not change and will endure forever. It not just a matter of being able to know what we should do, but having the strength and courage to actually do it! It is this level of living witness for which we all should strive. If we desire to leave a mark on this world for good, then it is in the moral arena that we should seek to be exemplary leaders. As the lives of the saints bear witness, no one is necessarily excluded from this possibility.
