A new year looms and so much lies ahead. We can make all sorts of resolutions to be and do better in 2014.
But as citizens of countries and members of communities and congregations with wider wants, we can鈥檛 act alone. We need leaders with the qualities of leadership and the will to use them.
In March, Logan McMenamie, dean of Columbia at Christ Church Cathedral, will receive his crosier as the spiritual leader 鈥� bishop 鈥� of Anglicans in 43 parishes on 91原创 Island.
The staff he鈥檒l receive is a symbol for souls moved by faith to follow in flocks a shepherd where God directs the path.
This kind of leadership gets scant attention these days. All over the world, political leadership is the focus and seems to be in crisis: promises are unkept, visions shattered and few believe the benefits and profits predicted by leaders will materialize.
The election of Pope Francis seemed refreshment for a church too wedded to pomp and circumstance rather than ministry to the poor and disadvantaged. Yet there are those who attribute Francis鈥檚 popular appeal to public-relations people around him.
Barack Obama made uplifting speeches to Americans on becoming president that earned him a Nobel Prize, but the actions needed to fulfil his objectives have been frustrated by an ossified constitution.
And the leader who challenged Americans to dust themselves off and start again, and who was Time magazine鈥檚 man of the year in 2012, has turned out to be rather a ditherer on Middle and Far East issues.
International analysts say Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have been better leaders 鈥� and their concern for the people they lead is not particularly evident.
The African press bemoans the lack of leadership in countries of that continent, which has produced so much strife and suffering. Violence is used to make and unmake governments in the Middle East.
The Economist has declined, this year, to acknowledge the achievements of 鈥渓one egomaniacs or saints.鈥� It has chosen as country of the year tiny Uruguay, the first country in the world to regulate the lawful production, sale and consumption of cannabis, and whose president gives away a lot of his salary and lives in his wife鈥檚 farmhouse.
Perhaps as we come into a new year, it has begun to sink in that great leaders are not those who strike out on their own and challenge others to follow or dare them not to 鈥� like the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, who is said to have rescued Britain from decline while shredding what 91原创s would call its social safety net.
Nelson Mandela is widely hailed as the architect of 鈥渢he rainbow nation,鈥� though conciliation and forgiveness are certainly not what he went into 27 years of solitary confinement for. The spirit of Gandhi is not evidently haunting India today.
The great leaders of the past, with few exceptions, have not had the common touch. They haven鈥檛 wanted their followers too close, for their position must be clearly in the vanguard.
They鈥檝e sought to provoke patriotic fervour, 鈥渘ational interest鈥� and a common good that many don鈥檛 share. They鈥檝e had to divide in order to rule.
Focus groups and public-opinion surveys, target advertising and public relations campaigns are their tools.
And bureaucracy has become a buffer for politicians trying to avoid responsibilities. Agencies and offices doing unpleasant things or panels with limited authority and mythical expertise making tough decisions are declared to be at arm鈥檚 length from those elected to take those responsibilities.
Because taxpayers vote 鈥� sometimes 鈥� governors who want their votes invent 鈥渞evenue neutral鈥� imposts, and forgo taxes needed to provide the services that voters have come to expect.
Still, they set goals that they know will never be reached and create visions that they know will remain mirages. The followers of political leaders need a lot of faith.
They鈥檇 do better to put their faith in a holy man speaking softly and carrying a big stick.
