Doing Our Inner Work A Practice of Spiritual Leadership

Water dripping onto a seedling planted into dirt; from left to right the same plant is shown in larger and larger stages against a blurry green background. 'Doing Our Inner Work' is superimposed in white lettering.

The practice of doing our inner work is about wakening our souls and tuning in to the wisdom and gifts that abide within us. Our souls remember our dignity and worth. Not over and above someone else. Not in spite of someone else. Not in comparison to anyone else. Our soul is that aspect of ourselves that always remembers our ultimate significance and our connection to the vastness of the cosmos. Our soul is in touch with our inherent somebodiness, and the inherent somebodiness of others.

It’s hard to be a human being. We can easily lose our vital connection to our deepest Self — especially in cultures that do not value the inherent worth and dignity of each person. We all forget our deepest knowing sometimes. We all get activated and thrown off sometimes. Doing our inner work includes finding and engaging in practices that help us return to our best selves.

Being part of a community such as a congregation means taking seriously the way we show up in collective space. It is our responsibility to tend to the places where we are either looking down at or looking up to others. It is the responsibility of religious community to help us remember we belong to one another as equals — all somebodies with gifts and purpose — and to help us remember that we are connected to the web of Life and Love that came before us and will remain after us.

“Doing Our Inner Work” Posts From Our Practice Makes Possible Blog

  • reflection of hand reaching into a body of water

    I don’t doubt that many of us are maybe a little afraid to reflect so soon on something that is still quite close and tender. These fears may be part of the reason for Ken Burns’ five year standard! Yet, let us remember that company is one of the gifts of community, that we will have each other to..

    By Hilary Allen | May 21, 2021 | From Doing Our Inner Work
  • yellow background with text that reads "Exhaustion will not create liberation." by the Nap Ministry

    Friends, if you are not already feeling so, please know this: you are going to get tired. Fatigue is real, especially when we are doing the work of dismantling white supremacy. If we don’t take the rest we need, the temptation to act out of white supremacy culture is that much stronger.

    By Hilary Allen | April 27, 2021 | From Doing Our Inner Work
  • a black person facing away from camera holding a sign which reads, "It is a privilege to educate yourself about racism rather than experiencing it!"

    We have to assume that if we are engaged in dismantling white supremacy, then we will have to encounter it along the way.

    By Hilary Allen | April 12, 2021 | From Doing Our Inner Work
  • imperfect fern

    Friends, move toward your purpose. Remember what is most essential. Let the rest go. We are here if you need help.

    By Erica Baron | February 23, 2021 | From Doing Our Inner Work
    Tagged as: Principles and Purposes
  • angel kyodo williams

    I return to the Spiritual Leadership practice of doing my inner work. It may be the hardest practice of all. I want so many things to be different than they are — including myself. Yet the only path forward is to be right here in this real place, right now at this real time.

    By Meck Groot | November 4, 2020 | From Doing Our Inner Work
    Tagged as: 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Spiritual Practice, Voting Rights