Working With Spirit
is a Path Book offering practical spirituality to enrich everyday living.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”Psalm 119:105
Gratitudes
I am grateful to those who reviewed parts of this book in its manuscript form and gave their feedback, especially my friends of different faiths - O. P. Dwivedi, Michael Grand, Ken Hood, Bill Hulet, and Iftikhar Sheikh. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the members of the Spirituality in the Workplace groups at the University of Guelph, who have shared their stories, struggles, and joys so honestly and generously, and taught me so much. Special thanks, too, to Robert Maclennan at ABC Publishing for his encouragement as we turned assorted thoughts and stories into this book.
L.R.
First, my thanks to Lucy Reid. When I proposed this book to Lucy, she immediately shared and enhanced my vision. I am also grateful to Lucy for keeping our writing moving along when there were many other tasks vying for our attention. Lucy truly represents spirit at work at the University of Guelph.
I too am grateful for the guidance we received on this book from our colleagues at the University of Guelph and from Robert Maclennan at ABC Publishing. I would also like to acknowledge Margaret Murray and John Veltri, SJ, for helping me understand spirituality at work issues.
F.E.
December 2003
Working
with Spirit
Engaging Spirituality to Meet the Challenges of the Workplace
Lucy Reid & Fred Evers
Path Books, Anglican Book Centre
General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada
80 Hayden Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4Y 3G2
www.abcpublishing.com www.pathbooks.com
Copyright © 2004 by Lucy Reid and Fred Evers
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
Biblical quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville, 1989. Adapted slightly by the authors occasionally.
Text set in Daily News Regular Cover and text design by Jane Thornton Cover photograph by Jane Thornton
Library and Archives of Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Reid, Lucy
WorkingWithSpirit: engaging spirituality to meet the challenges of the workplace / Lucy Reid and Fred Evers.
ISBN 1-55126-417-X
l. Work. 2. Spirituality. 3. Work — Religious aspects — Christianity.
4. Spirituality — Christianity. I. Evers, Frederick T. (Frederick Thomas),
1949- II. Title.
BL65.W67R43 2004 248.8'8 C2004-903272-0
Dedication
For David, my beloved co-worker in parenting and ministry. And for my colleagues and friends at the University of Guelph. L.R.
For Susan, whose wisdom and love guide me daily. And to our daughters, Jerry and Courtney, for their love and support.
F.E.
Contents
Introduction: Spirituality and Work
Part One: The Challenges of the Workplace
Chapter 3: A Culture of More
Part Two: Simple Gifts
Chapter 4: Weaving Wholeness
Chapter 5: Humanizing the Workplace
Chapter 6: Creating a New Culture
Chapter 7: The Christian Contribution
Chapter 8: Wisdom from the World's Religions
Chapter 9: How to Get Started
Chapter 10: Suggested Reading
Works Cited
---INTRODUCTION--- Spirituality and Work
We live in interesting times. In Canada, as elsewhere in North America and Europe, our society is generally considered to be secular, with religion and state separate and the overt role of religion in public life minimal. Over the last fifty years there has been a massive decline in church membership and religious practice. In Canada in 1957, for example, according to statistics gathered by sociologist of religion Reginald Bibby in Restless Gods [2002], 53% of all Canadians were attending religious services weekly. By the year 2000 that figure had plummeted to 24%. Among Canadian teens, in 2000 one in four was identified as having no religion at all [Bibby 2002, 20, 86]. Even allowing for a rejection of religion that is temporary and age-related, the phenomenon of spiritually disenfranchised youth and young adults is new and challenging.
Paradoxically, at the same time as this shift away from organized religion, interest in spirituality is greater than ever. People are searching. According to Bibby, they are not dropping out of religion altogether so much as dropping in — church-shopping, testing the waters, looking for meaning and guidance without committing to regular membership and practice. They are responding to an inner voice that drives them to ask questions and seek answers in a variety of places and in a variety of ways.
The commercial response to this quest is a growing number of books, retreat centres, conferences, and leaders in the field of spirituality. The mainline churches may be struggling with membership decline, but the shelves of any bookstore are well stocked with titles on spirituality of all kinds. It is as though the new religion is spirituality: “I'm not religious, but I am spiritual” is today's creed. As spirituality has widened beyond the container of organized religion, people have been exploring and experimenting for themselves, and looking for ways to relate spirituality to the whole of life. In particular, the notion of a spirituality of work is emerging. Books, speakers, even web sites are focusing for the first time on spirituality in the workplace.
What is meant by this phrase? There is a recognition that as human beings we have spiritual needs and drives as well as physical, mental, emotional, and social ones. We do not leave our soul at the door of the workplace. It enters with us and can either help us engage more deeply, meaningfully, and compassionately with our work, or reveal to us the futility, ferocity, or soul-destroying