The Cathedral Within: Transforming Your Life by Giving Something Back
by Bill Shore
(Random House, 1999)

Wedged in the shelves of my local bookshop between the self-help and psychology sections was The Cathedral Within: Transforming Your Life by Giving Something Back. I approached this book with a bit of skepticism, but did find myself intrigued by the title. What I expected to find was a rather superficial piece on inner tranquility. What I discovered as I leafed through the pages was a carefully crafted explanation of what it takes to create an inner space from which transformational change can occur in individuals and in institutions.

Shore very effectively uses the analogy of becoming a cathedral builder to discuss the core issues of vision, leadership, clarity of mission, and the exploration of current reality. Bill Shore is the founder and executive director of Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit organization that has raised more than $82 million to support antihunger and antipoverty efforts worldwide since its founding in 1984. Share Our Strength has mobilized tens of thousands of individuals to contribute their own talent to similar efforts. Shore takes the stories of the many visionaries he has met over the years and reflects on how they have been able to make such a powerful impact on institutions and on the world. From religious leaders and political gurus to corporate giants, Shore tells the stories of how individuals have participated in building cathedrals of hope, possibility, and justice.

Whether our vision concerns feeding the hungry, creating safe places for kids, or developing transformational congregations, Shore suggests five basic principles for builders of cathedrals:

1. Be willing to devote your life to a cause you may never see completed.
2. Cathedral building requires the sharing of strength, the contribution of not just the artisans and experts, but of everyone in the community.
3. The great cathedrals are built, literally, upon the foundations of earlier efforts.
4. Cathedrals were sustained and maintained because they actually generated their own wealth and support. Their builders discovered and created the resources they required.
5. Cathedrals, through their stained glass panels, statues and paintings, were intentionally designed to convey stories and values. In this way, they taught their history and perpetuated a philosophy and culture that reflected their values.

The Cathedral Within revolves around the basic assumption that the majority of individuals desire to make a contribution to their world. A secondary assumption is that the greater number of individuals who seek to contribute, the greater the impact. Shore quotes a character in Bertolt Brecht's Galileo who says, "Pity the nation that has no heroes," to which Galileo responds, "'Pity the nation who needs them.' All of us have to go out in the public square, and all of us have to assume our responsibilities."

While it is clear that the ultimate goal of the author is to inspire individuals to instigate dramatic institutional change in our world, there is also an obvious understanding of the need for individuals -- whether they be in the community or the church -- to first create a cathedral of clarity, vision, and centeredness within.

The Rev. Steve Poole, Seattle, Washington, is a FaithQuest consultant.

(originally posted November 23, 1999)