“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” – Teilhard de Chardin
Joseph Campbell in the Power of Myth writes, “All great wisdom traditions agree on one thing,” he said. “Everything’s a mess and all is well.” Leaders do well to live into both sides of this truth.
Have you read the news lately? It’s a daily outrage, the news of our land. A mass shooting happens almost daily. Facts and truth are ignored in favor of fabricated absurdities that politicians propagate to hold power and people believe despite the ability to check truth with a cell phone. While the planet keeps heating up, hackers keep reminding us of our fragility and fascism keeps spreading around the world.
What do you see?
If all we see is the mess of things, this is an exhausting time. When the world feels loud, jagged, dissonant with fear or urgency there is a temptation to speak louder, move faster, organize better in a desire “to fix” what we see is wrong. It is a path that often leads to exhaustion. Yes, the world is a mess but the task of the leader is to deeply understand the forces holding the mess in place and embrace—with love, compassion, and wisdom—the whole picture in which this worldly drama plays out.
The scriptures urge us: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” It will take a kind of bigness to be up to the task of doing inexhaustible good without exhaustion.
Moreover, we will have a hard time building resonance around our ideas and inspiring others if we’re operating from outrage. The one who yells the loudest and complains the most always gets our attention and sometimes even becomes the leader for a time. Outrage can even get short term gain but after a while it’s just exhausting.
What do you feel?
Have you ever felt exhausted? I went through a time in my ministry when I was exhausted, perhaps to the point of burnout, and I had to rethink how I did ministry. Part of it, perhaps the biggest part, was realizing that everything is a mess…and all is well.
In the biblical story, a woman anoints Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume, and is criticized by some onlookers, particularly Judas Iscariot, for wasting the ointment. While some, like Judas, criticize the perceived wastefulness of the act and suggest the money could have been given to the poor, Jesus defends the woman, stating that she was preparing him for burial and that the poor would always be present.
Jesus gives us a deep insight: doing the right thing involves right timing. It is good to help the poor but it is also good to show your devotion to Jesus. The world is a mess. The poor you will always have with you. The work will never be done. So, remember and be present in the moment…the world is a mess…and all is well. As Chardin reminds us we are spiritual beings having a human experience not the other way around.
What is Resonance?
A friend has recently been speaking of resonance and it got me exploring the concept. We all know when something resonates with you. It means the concept connected with you at a deep level. We know people we resonate with meaning we connect with one another at a deeper level emotionally and spiritually.
What if the best thing you can do as a leader is not your strategy or ideas but your resonance? In a time when your team or organization is feeling torn apart, or stressed out, or at the very least anxious, perhaps the best thing you can do is let them know the world is a mess…and all is well. The team/organization isn’t where it needs to be but all is well. We do life together well and everything else will take care of itself.
In sociology, resonance describes a positive and transformative relationship with the world, characterized by responsiveness and engagement, according to Wikipedia. It’s about feeling connected and attuned to one’s environment, purpose, and others. Judas, in the story is not connected to Jesus but rather to a goal (feed the poor) and so he misses the greater purpose and opportunity of that moment.
Lessons From the Beehive
When I think of organizational resonance, I get the image of Bees humming and working in perfect harmony. The organization has a certain buzz about it. You have high energy levels, you “run and not grow weary” as Isaiah says. There is a whole lot of positivity which shows in higher engagement and individual fulfillment/happiness. Things get done easier and seemingly with less effort and as Jesus promised, in the proper time you reap a harvest.
What if your best leadership happens as you pass on that life is not just biological—it is relational, harmonic, and intelligent. It is not merely the sum of living organisms but a field of consciousness expressing itself through pattern and presence. When we move in tune with that field—through intention, word, and deed—we don’t just respond to Life. We become a conduit for it.
My friend emphasizes that this is not passive alignment. It’s active, attuned participation, a practice of living from the center of your being in a way that stabilizes the world around you—not by control, but by coherence.
Perhaps that sounds a bit too mystical to you. If so, just reflect on those bees working together despite what the world around them thinks is important. I am reminded of Rudyard Kipling’s great poem “If” which I will share one stanza with you:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
Yes, everything is a mess…and all is well. Does that resonate with you?
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