A Lesson from the Spirit

To be an example.
To be an example is not merely a wish, but an act of obedience.
To be an example is a path not chosen for the sake of pride.
Many distortions have been placed into this concept. To be an example does not mean to be better than everyone else, it means to feel everyone.
Only by feeling your neighbor as yourself can you help him; you can give advice, guide, support—you can be near, because you are part of him, and he is part of you. That is how true leaders act, those who can truly call themselves examples—not above everyone, but of everyone. That is what the phrase means.
Many of you do not reflect on this phrase heard since infancy. And each time someone was held up as an example, compared to someone else, you felt a certain inner protest, dissatisfaction—not because you thought yourself superior, but because the system itself has warped that blessed word—example.
Can selfish manners manifested in an isolated personality be considered worthy of imitation? No. Where there is a bonfire, there is warmth. He in whom the light of true knowledge of the Creator has been lit is himself a fire—not burning, but drawing attention, alluring, a beacon toward which many strive. For what? To be filled with that light, and not always because it is lacking in others, but because the need for the union of lightings is more important than the selfish aspirations of the individual.
Today I will give a lesson that may be commonplace, but consciousness gains brightness only in the light of its own shining, and in the reflection of other hearts.
To be an example means to break a piece of bread with another as with your equal; only thus, by knowing another as yourself, can you truly be useful in your mission, and therefore be an example of how obedience leads to the opening of others, to their uniting and the healing of restless hearts.
Be an example of selfless love, devoted service, and unshakable faith for yourself. And this light kindled in your chest will become an example for those who follow your shining.