Life and Livelihood: A Handbook for Spirituality at Work

Publisher's Blurb
"Many working people may have the uneasy feeling that when they clock in every morning, they check their “real selves” at the door. Caring, compassionate, generous human beings who look after families and volunteer in the community take on the values of the workplace, where fierce competition may trump kindness and concern. People who might exercise all the best attributes of Christianity in action often feel they have to put on alter egos that fit into a business world that may be less in tune with Christian values.

It’s the kind of great divide that makes people yearn for greater connection between their “at-work selves” and their “at-home selves.” And it’s led to the formation of the “spirituality at work” movement, helping those eager to align their spirituality with their professional lives.

This book provides the nuts-and-bolts of running a workplace spirituality group. It offers hands-on information about everything from forming a group to facilitating a meeting, and even includes detailed agendas for 45-minute meetings. With the easy-to-use agendas, participants explore such questions as “Can our work be sacred?” “What is real wealth?” and “How does language shape our values?”

Life and Livelihood is designed to be respectful of—and applicable to—those of most faith traditions, although Christian themes, images, and references predominate.

Whitney Roberson, an Episcopal priest, is associate pastor of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and director of the Spirituality at Work program there. She leads conferences, retreats, and training programs on this topic."

Endorsements
"Business people and clergy frequently ask me, 'What book would you recommend to help me start a faith at work group?' In the past, I could not give a succinct answer. Now I can, thanks to Whitney Roberson's practical handbook that draws on her own experience building and leading faith at work groups." -David W. Miller, Executive Director, Yale Center for Faith and Culture and Assistant Professor (Adjunct) of Business Ethics, Yale Divinity School

"A simple and straightforward program to open the way to more authentic conversations between people in the workplace who wish to make more room for matters of the spirit. This lovely book takes off from the author's Christian traditions to incorporate many other concepts ranging from the great world religions to secular psychological concepts about affirmation and attentiveness." -Laura L. Nash, Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School

"Life and Livelihood: A Handbook for Spirituality at Work by Whitney Wherrett Roberson is a top-notch resource on making meaning and expressing your soul and spirit . . . This thoughtful and down-to earth resource is highly recommended to all religious people who want to deepen and enrich their work experiences and find ways of expressing their talents, creativity, imagination, and intuition on the job." -- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat in Spirituality & Health