Christian Leadership Alliance
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Love as Resonant Communication Between Leaders and Their Followers
If there are two themes that represent society as we know it, they are the themes of relationship and love. Society is, by definition, founded on exchanges between individuals, exchanges that transcend the narrow boundaries of individualistic expressions. Relationships and love are related in that the latter is a potent formulation of the former. Contrary to what may be concluded on the basis of modern popular lyrics, love is not a modern invention but is as old as the world itself. Alongside the themes of relationships and love can be placed an important characteristic of both nature and society which, viewed from one perspective, may be said to facilitate some if not all relationships in some measure.
Pierre Babin noted that "modulation is the essence of audiovisual language, as words and their sequence are the essence of written language"[1]. Focusing on its scientific meaning, Babin used modulation to explain a process that maximizes the transfer of emotions and meaning, of images and ideas, making communication powerful. In Babin's interpretation, the most important attribute of modulation represents nuance. These nuances of the medium—frequencies, intensity, harmonics, length—are as persuasively powerful as the message itself. Modulation and nuance are critical elements of communication and, therefore, vital ingredients for structuring resonant human relationships. This assertion allows us to sketch the outer boundaries of a thesis of servant leadership in which love as resonance defines the relationship between leaders and followers.
In broad terms, resonance represents a state of adjustment. At its core, resonance is evocative of an association between two or more things or persons in a dynamic exchange that fosters maximized interaction. Following on from the idea that the concept of resonance is fundamentally expressive of a relationship, it becomes quite easy to introduce the concept of love into the discussion. Put another way, if communication is modulation, then love is resonance. In the same way that love is a ubiquitous and quite complex emotion, so, too, is resonance. Resonance exhibits a rich variety of forms and is present everywhere in microcosms and macrocosms. Stars, human beings, molecules, atoms, particles, are all capable of echoing, vibrating, responding to particular stimuli. However, contrary to the tension that is presumed to exist in the natural world, there is, in fact, a harmony or consonance that is embodied in the ubiquity of resonance and its relational quality. As we see it, resonance becomes a motif of divine love. God, the Creator, placed his mark upon creation using His pseudonym: Love.
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