This morning I took my cups of herb plants to a gathering, in the atrium of the Cathedral, of persons from various churches concerned about human rights and needs. Our church, Blessed Trinity, although the smallest in the district, had the most representatives at this gathering. The speaker, a Capuchin priest, spoke about “servant leadership.” This type of leadership is not based on manipulation or intimidation, as much leadership is, but based on ‘empowering’ others to serve. Normally I would have been bored with such an academic, conceptual talk but today I was interested. The reason was that the type of ‘servant leadership’ the speaker was talking about was what I experienced in Venezuela. The speaker just gave me a concept and some words to describe it. It is a leadership based on “listening”, gratitude, and asking others “what do you think?” Hugo Chavez is that type of servant leader in Venezuela. His image appears everywhere. At first this bothered me, but now I understand he is a symbol of ‘servant leadership’. Someone who knows how to listen and certainly empowers others to act.

Today I decided to record my Venezuela experience in a series of observations that relate to everyday life, like the one above. Some I will put in this posting of the “Diary of the Worm” and some just on the “Rising Venezuela” pages that I will soon create.

Another type of “servant leadership” is expressed in my Sierra Leone niece’s son, John Flavius Kwamme Thompson, nicknamed “Boogie”, who, with his mother and grandmother, visited us last night. He is only two but already demonstrates the joy, innocence and gratitude that are contagious in servant leadership. “A child shall lead you…”, and if we listen we can experience the wisdom of a young child.

Another aspect of “servant leadership” was felt working in my home garden today. By moving compost around, building mounds, planting seeds, I sensed that I am empowering the earth. I cannot directly grow anything, but I can prepare the environment for growth and thus be a servant leader.

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