Have you ever eaten gumbo? Gumbo is the most famous and popular dish in Louisiana. The most familiar gumbos are made with seafood, chicken, and/or sausage and might also include okra. The most familiar gumbos are made with seafood, chicken, and/or sausage and might also include okra. The foundation of gumbo is roux, which is a mixture of fat and flour that holds the soup together. When times were difficult in Louisiana, people threw into the pot whatever they had for a gumbo meal. Just as it takes different kinds of foods and spices to make a good gumbo, so positive change takes place in our world when various constituencies work together.

In 2020, Marc Morial published a book called The Gumbo Coalition: 10 Leadership Lessons that Help You Inspire, Unite, and Achieve. The Gumbo Coalition can be summarized by one sentence: Great leaders are able to unite various constituencies in service to a common cause. In other words, gumbo is not only a way of doing business, it’s a way of being in the world. I cannot imagine a more important challenge for people of faith in this time in which we are living.

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