Faith and Enterprise Podcast: Spiritual Renewal for Your Work Life podcast

09.04.2019

Prayer and the Development of a Deeper Sense of Mission

In this program, we will talk about a time when Jesus went off and prayed by himself in the early morning hours, while it was still dark, and emerged with a very clear and powerful sense of mission. This might...

11.06.2017

The Story of Norman Borlaug and the Fight Against Global Famine

This week we talk about the story of Norman Borlaug and his fight against famine. We also note some of the theological implications of Borlaug's work. Borlaug was a Nobel Prize winner who died in 2009. His work in the...

10.24.2017

Weathering the Storms of Financial Crisis

In this episode we talk about financial crisis, and how our faith and our spirituality can help us prepare for and survive such crisis. As we go through our lives most of us encounter financial ups and downs, sometimes very...

10.12.2017

Everyday Heroes in the Workplace

This week we talk about everyday heroes – the people who show up for work every day, doing work they do not particularly like, in order to support others for whom they care. Twenty years ago, Robert Bellah observed...

10.05.2017

Risk and Opportunity in Our Work Lives

Most of us encounter both risk and opportunity in our work lives – and sometimes a great deal of both. How we understand and respond to these can make a big difference in our work lives and in how we...

09.26.2017

Leisure and the Sabbath: The Gift of Rest and Renewal

Most of us know that we could benefit from periodically taking time off from our work and responsibilities, and enjoying a time of rest and renewal. But that does not make it easy to do. The Biblical idea of the...

09.21.2017

Two Competing Visions of the Future: Freedom and Dignity in Genesis 1 vs. The Babylonian Captivity

The creation story found at the beginning of the Bible, Genesis 1, had special meaning for the people of Israel during the period known as the Babylonian captivity. In the years leading up to 587 BCE, Jerusalem, it's Temple, and...

09.16.2017

Gratitude at Work

Cultivating a sense of gratitude can have important benefits for ourselves and for the people with whom we work. It is an important and beneficial quality, but few of us think much about it, and even fewer of us work...

08.31.2017

Wisdom and Failure: The Story of King Solomon

Solomon was one of the greatest kings in the Bible, perhaps second only to King David. And he had a reputation for having great wisdom. But there is another side to the story, one involving the misuse of power. In...

08.12.2017

Courage in the Workplace

Many of us encounter anxiety, stress, and even fear in the workplace. There is a large amount of literature devoted to ways to cope with these problems; but instead of just coping, as though we were mere victims, what if...

08.12.2017

Overcoming Workplace Toxicity

The word "toxic" has taken on special meaning when applied to the workplace. When we hear someone speak of toxic bosses, toxic coworkers, or toxic working environments, we usually have a pretty good idea of the character of the relationships...

07.15.2017

Work As Service To Others

There are great many products and services, and a great many jobs, that are needed to build and maintain a flourishing society: those who produce food and other goods, distributors and retailers, communicators of various kinds, accountants, lawyers, and administrators, and...

06.21.2017

The Power of Humility

Humility, properly understood, can make an important contribution to our spiritual and psychological flourishing, and can have very important benefits for our work life. It is helpful to think of humility as having to do with a reduced focus on...

04.19.2017

The Ups and Downs of Finding and Following a Calling

In this special edition we interview solar energy professional Tom King. Tom has a very interesting story to tell about finding and following a calling, and the ups and downs this can involve. Along the way he has worked in...

03.25.2017

Liberate the Human Spirit!

Have you ever worked in an environment that seemed designed to crush the human spirit and to eliminate any sort of initiative or creativity? Maybe you have also seen working environments that seem to liberate the human spirit, workplaces where...

03.07.2017

The Quest for the Sacred

The story of the Wise Men and King Herod is one of the great stories of the Bible. One way to look at the story is as a conflict between two human drives -- the desire for stability and order,...

02.21.2017

Can Your Work Be Your Calling?

No matter what we see as the primary purpose of our work, it is clear that if we can find more meaning in it, then we are likely to be more effective, more purposeful, and happier. For some people, this means seeing their work as their...

02.12.2017

Going Backwards

Most of us have had times when we seem to be going backwards in our career or in our work life. Or maybe times when we seemed to be dead in the water while everyone else was moving forward. But...

02.03.2017

The Examen: An Important Spiritual Practice

There are spiritual practices that might help us become alert to the spiritual aspects of our daily lives; one especially powerful one is called the Examen. The Examen was developed by Ignatius of Loyola about 500 years ago. He developed...

01.26.2017

Work Related Stress Part 1

We all know how painful and dysfunction stress can be. It can damage our health and limit our effectiveness. But there are some things we can do. In this episode, we will begin by focusing on the work of psychologist...

01.17.2017

Passion and Work

Robert Vallerand has written a very interesting book called: The Psychology of Passion: A Dualistic Model. In it, he presents research suggesting that there are two types of passion: harmonious passion and obsessive passion. The distinction between the two has...

01.12.2017

Spiritual Renewal in Our Work Lives

Finding ways to promote spiritual renewal in our work lives is the mission of the Center for Faith and Enterprise. But what does spiritual renewal mean? And how might it effect our work lives? In this week's episode, we consider...

11.24.2016

Entering the State of Flow (aka "Being in the Zone")

Most if us are familiar with the expression being in the zone, and in fact most have probably experienced it at some point. Psychologists usually refer to it as being in a state of flow. It is usually thought of...

11.17.2016

Burnout in the Workplace: There Are Things We Can Do

Burnout in our work lives is an important problem -- painful, frustrating, and damaging. It is usually the result of prolonged stress, often caused by a mismatch between the individual and the work or between the individual and the work...

10.16.2016

Workplace Stress: Can a Spiritual Practice Known as the Prayer Mantra Help?

Stress can have important negative consequences for both our health and our effectiveness. Few of us are at our best when we are carrying the emotional burden of stress. In this episode we discuss a spiritual practice known as the...

10.15.2016

Developing a Deeper Sense of Mission and Purpose: Can Prayer Help?

Most of us would probably like to work with a deeper sense of purpose and mission; maybe prayer can help. This episode provides an example from the life of Jesus and begins with a story about a time when he...