Chapter 2: Gifts needed by an abbot or abbess (paragraph 4)

They should not select for special treatment any individual in the monastery. (From para. 4 of Ch. 2 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

I can't be an authentic leader committed to the welfare of others, and play favorites. But I'll have my favorites, my special friends, and love them in a powerful way that will teeter on the edge of exclusivity. But, the Dalai Lama and Benedict remind me that true love always sets another free.