Some years ago, I started a tradition where every year around my birthday I would write The Sara Manifesto. (Here is 2014’s version, for example.) My manifesto offers the words I want to live by. It represents a horizon toward which I walk, more than a point at which I have arrived. And it shifts over time. For years, “I will be true to myself,” was included and I find that is now so alive in me that I don’t need a reminder. 

In the fall of 2017, in my second year of seminary, we were asked to write our personal code of ethics. As I started this assignment I realized this is exactly what my manifesto had been – the ethics that want to live through me. So I updated it.

As I embark on a new adventure, I thought I’d share the latest version. Consider trying it for yourself – what wants to live through you?

The Sara Manifesto

These are the ethics that want to be alive in me. I choose to allow this code to be alive, a work in progress, and to visit it regularly to remember and to assess.

I live this life as deeply and completely as possible. I show up and engage in the emotional, psychological and spiritual work this entails. 

  • In ways I may not understand, this contributes to the healing of the world.
  • Every day, and as many moments as possible, I observe my life to see what is showing up in Life, from God, for me to learn, heal, and integrate through triggers, events and synchronicities.
  • This is a life well-lived.

I live by the values that want to be alive in me:

  • Peace.
  • Kindness.
  • Simplicity.
  • Family.
  • Home.

My criterion for achievement will be: did I have courage?

I commit to a simple life.

  • The soul does not grow by addition but by subtraction. (Meister Eckhart)
  • The simpler my life is, the more the still, small voice becomes the predominant voice.
  • The demands of my higher Self are easier to hear as life is well ordered and simplified. This empowers me to make conscious decisions, which need time. A simple life affords more time.

In Thought – I take responsibility for my thoughts, recognizing the impact they have on my Life and the lives of those around me.

  • I will remember that to meet a challenge well and with kindness, my thoughts must settle. I practice this.
  • I continue training my mind to be slow and still with spiritual practices.
  • Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. (The Buddha in the Dhammapada)
  • As a man thinks within himself, so he becomes. (Proverbs 23:7)

In Speech – ahead of speaking I will first ask:

  • Is it true?
  • Is it kind?
  • Is it necessary?

(learned from a Sufi proverb.)

In Ministry, which means in life – I see people in their wholeness, as a God carrier. I practice being with each person with unconditional positive regard.

In Consuming – I produce more, consume less and am a conscious consumer.

  • Enough is a feast. (Buddhist teaching)

I regularly inquire

  • Where is societal programming affecting me? and
  • How do I surrender that?

I engage in quiet, responsible revolt. My work now is to listen and hear my inner Self, hear what It wants me to do. I am receptive to the directives of my own Being.

  • This is always healing.
  • And in ways I may not understand, heals beyond me.

I choose to act from a deep trust of union with God and a sense of interrelationship with others. I choose to be generous, to be reliable, to experience another as myself, to keep my word, to affirm life in the face of death. And to practice joy and gratitude. All of this is done in Service.