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BUSG 701 – Spirituality and Management – Conniry

Spirituality in the Workplace: Finishing God’s Work

Scott Thor

George Fox University

Doctor of Management

BUSG 701 Spirituality and Management

Professor Conniry

May 30, 2009

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Abstract

Why do we work? For many the answer is something to the affect of, “to support my

family”, or “to buy the things I need”, or in more cases, “to buy the things I want”. The

sad truth is, Americans are working more than ever, but are we getting more? Like

many Americans, I too in the past have fallen victim to working to support not just my

personal welfare, but more so my personal desire for bigger and better, which some

may call the “American Dream”. But is bigger really better? Is a bigger house, car, or

even paycheck the goal we should be striving for? I believe it is more than the physical

wealth one accumulates through work that matters. It is more about the spiritual wealth

one gains through work that adds meaning and purpose to life, provides value to

society, creates challenge and meaningful reward, and helps to contribute to the

dreams and aspirations of others. Spirituality in the workplace is one of the ways in

which we gain this invisible wealth. In this paper I discuss my personal path to spiritual

wealth at work sharing the lessons I have learned not only in the research for this

course, but also throughout the journey I have taken from being a “bigger is better”

American to a person who now looks at the world as a place to learn and grow not only

myself, but those around me. I also discuss how spirituality leads to happiness, which

also helps boost productivity, making a business case for creating a spiritual workplace.

I finish with a look ahead to how this course has influenced me and how I will approach

the rest of my doctoral studies.

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The Never Ending Quest for “Enough”

Bogle (2009) writes about an interesting conversation between Kurt Vonnegut

and Joseph Heller at a party hosted by a billionaire hedge fund manager on Shelter

Island. Vonnegut tells Heller that their host has made more money in one day than he

has made over the entire history of his popular novel Catch-22, to which Heller

responds, “Yes, but I have something he will never have…enough” (p. 1).

What does it mean to have enough? For many Americans enough does not

exist. We tell ourselves once I make it to the executive team, make six figures, get the

corner office, become CEO, etc., I will have enough. I too once thought this, and like

most ambitious professionals, assumed once I make it to the executive level with the big

salary, nice office, company credit card, and multi-million dollar yearly budget I would

have enough. The reality is once I made it that far I discovered enough was just one

step above it, and before long I had created a new definition of what having enough

meant.

Enough is a never ending cycle for most Americans. We just cannot seem to get

enough. We are always looking for just a little more, but never seem to achieve it. We

continue to work in the never-ending quest for enough only to find out for many of us it

does not exist.

For most of us work consumes the majority of our life, but far too many of us are

working for the wrong reasons. We see work as a means to an end in what we can buy

with our paychecks, always trying to “keep up with the Joneses” who constantly seem to

be one step ahead of us. An argument can be made that the current housing mortgage

crisis is a direct result of an over extended grasp for the “American Dream” by those
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who could not afford it. Work has become more about the physical result of what we

can buy with our newfound revenue streams instead of the spiritual wealth we should be

building in others and ourselves.

Defining Workplace Spirituality

There is no one correct definition of workplace spirituality. It is defined in a

variety of ways. One of the ways the International Center for Spirit at Work (2008),

which gives the International Spirit at Work Awards each year, defines it on their

application is:

Spirituality in the workplace means that employees find nourishment for

both the vertical and horizontal dimensions of their spirituality at work.

Spirituality in the Workplace is about individuals and organisations seeing

work as a spiritual path, as an opportunity to grow and to contribute to

society in a meaningful way. It is about care, compassion and support of

others; about integrity and people being true to themselves and others. It

means individuals and organisations attempting to live their values more

fully in the work they do. (p. 3)

Smith (2006), defines workplace spirituality as, “the ways we express our

spirituality at work. It also encompasses the support we receive in the workplace for our

experience of awe, for our personal spirituality, and for making ethical, just decisions”

(p. 1). She goes on to further define spirituality as, “the inborn desire and ability of

every person to seek, know, and respond to the Mystery that I call God but which others

may call something else: Spirit, Universe, Energy, Life, etc.” (p. 2).
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Marques, Dhiman, and King (2007) define workplace spirituality as, “an

experience of interconnectedness among those involved in a work process” (p. 89).

They expand the definition to include what it takes to create a spiritual workplace and its

result. They state that a spiritual workplace is, “initiated by authenticity, reciprocity, and

personal goodwill; engendered by a deep sense of meaning that is inherent in the

organization’s work; and resulting in greater motivation and organizational excellence”

(p. 89).

Mitroff and Denton (1999) write about the results of a study on workplace

spirituality in which they interviewed several executives. One of their questions asked

the executives how they defined spirituality. The following is a summary of their

responses:

• The basic belief that there is a supreme power, a being, a force, whatever you

call it, that governs the entire universe.

• A feeling of this interconnectedness and being in touch with it. Thus, spirituality

is giving expression to one’s feelings.

• A feeling that no matter how bad things get, they will always work out somehow.

There is a guiding plan that governs all of our lives.

• Spirituality is inextricably connected with caring, hope, kindness, love, and

optimism. (p. 88-89)

All of these definitions describe spirituality using different words, but what they

have in common is that spirituality begins with the individual. There is also an

inconsistent theme of spirituality and religion by which some people associate

spirituality with religion while others do not.

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Religion vs. Spirituality

Religion is sometimes confused with spirituality and it is important that we

distinguish the difference between the two. Smith (2006) suggests that spirituality is the

journey we are on and religion is simply an aid in finding the direction. She states, “If

we use spirituality as a metaphor for the life journey we are on, then religion is the way

or set of directions for many people, but it is only the way, not the destination” (p. 2).

The question then becomes, can one be spiritual without being religious?

Fuller (2001) writes that many Americans consider themselves spiritual but not

religious despite the two being synonymous. He believes that intellectual and cultural

forces have separated life into “private” and “public” spheres, and contends that

because of this separation many Americans believe they can be spiritual without being

religious. He writes:

Many [Americans] began to associate genuine faith with the “private”

realm of personal experience rather than the “public” realm of institutions,

creeds, and rituals. The word spiritual gradually came to be associated

with the private realm of thought and experience while the word religious

came to be connected with the public realm of membership in religious

institutions, participation in formal rituals, and adherence to official

denominational doctrines. (p. 5)

I agree, as Fuller writes, that spirituality and religion are two separate entities. I

know of several such people who characterize themselves as spiritual but not religious.

I, however, am not one of them and believe that my beliefs, or religion, is the guiding

foundation I use to establish spirituality in my personal and work life.

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Mitroff and Denton (1999) found that people have four different orientations

toward spirituality and religion. They discovered that people who are positive about

spirituality and religion see the two as synonymous. This group believes that spirituality

is experienced through religion. A second group of people in their study were found to

be positive about religion and negative toward spirituality. These people are very

focused on religious life, especially through rituals and religious practices. A third group

was found to be positive on spirituality and negative on religion. This group found

organized religion to be close-minded and exclusive to those who don’t believe as they

do. To the opposite, they believe that spirituality, unlike religion, is highly individualized

and open to all people. The final group they found in their study was negative on both

spirituality and religion. This group believes that everything is possible through the

application of proper values. They also believe that spirituality and religion have nothing

to do with the modern workplace. Figure one illustrates the differences between the

four groups.

Figure 1. From "A Study of Spirituality in the Workplace" by I. Mitroff and E. Denton, 1999, Sloan
Management Review, 19(2), p. 89.

I found the four groups established by Mitroff and Denton (1999) perfectly

describe what I have experienced in the workplace. I would place myself somewhere in
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the middle on religion and positive on spirituality because I find the two not to be

synonymous. For me spirituality is more about a state of being and not about beliefs in

any formal religion.

Finding Meaning in Work

Work has many definitions. To many it is simply a “job” they must do in order to

support their family and pay the bills each month. Unfortunately, many Americans fall

into this category and the highlight of their day is when the buzzer rings at five o’clock

and they can go home. We work far too many hours for work to be simply a “job” or a

means to an end. There is no single place we will spend more time throughout our lives

than at work, so should we not be striving to have some meaning in what we do?

Should we not work towards adding value to those we work with and the parts of society

our work touches? Volf (2001) defines work as:

Honest, purposeful, and methodologically specified social activity whose

primary goal is the creation of products or states of affairs that can satisfy

the needs of working individuals or their co-creatures, or (if primarily an

end in itself) activity that is necessary in order for acting individuals to

satisfy their needs apart from the need for the activity itself. (p. 10-11)

Volf’s (2001) definition highlights two key aspects of work that I feel are at the

heart of what we do while we work. First, as Volf describes, work’s primary goal should

be to satisfy the need of the working individual. Each of us has different needs and

work is one of the places where we find many of them. Truly meaningful work is

perhaps the most important ingredient in living a purposeful and happy life. Second, is

that our work must satisfy the needs of others, or what Volf describes as “co-creatures”.
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Volf defines co-creatures as, “the whole human race as well as living nonhuman

creatures” (p. 13). Not only should our work benefit other human beings, but also the

other living organisms that our work comes in contact with. As we face a future in which

our environment is suffering from climate change, air pollution, and the threat of

extinction of many species, it will be ever more critical that our work consider the impact

we put upon the creatures we may not see, but certainly affect. For work to take

meaning we must have passion in what we do. For many of us that passion comes

from being able to incorporate our spirituality at work.

Mitroff and Denton (1999) asked the question in their study what gives you the

most meaning and purpose in your job. The top 7 answers were as follows:

1. The ability to realize my full potential as a person

2. Being associated with a good organization or an ethical organization

3. Interesting work

4. Making money

5. Having good colleagues; serving humankind

6. Service to future generations

7. Service to my immediate community (p. 85)

They note that once pay surpasses a certain threshold it ceases to be the most

important purpose for a job. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs our desire tends to shift

toward self-actualization once our basic (minimum pay) requirements are met.

Bassuk and Goldsmith (2009) describe primary and secondary factors in finding

meaning in work. Primary factors include the actual work being completed, such as

helping the underprivileged, but more often we are finding our meaning through what
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Bassuk and Goldsmith consider secondary factors. They identify nine secondary

meaning factors that include philanthropy and community service, healthy culture,

ethical alignment, mentoring, creativity, big future vision, multiple perspectives,

exposure to others, and public engagement. After reading this article I found that the

meaning in my current position comes primarily from secondary factors. For me it

comes through mentoring, creativity, and a big future vision.

Mentoring is one of the biggest drivers in my work life. Farber (2009) writes,

“Truly great leaders in life become so because they cause others to be greater than

themselves” (p. 16). Living this is much harder than it sounds in the “me, me, me”

society we live in. We are so competitive with one another it is difficult to help others

become better than ourselves. We have to learn to put our egos aside and spend less

time focused on our own needs, which I too find challenging at times.

Creativity is another way in which I find meaning in my work. Even when I am

working on a task in which the end result is unlikely to make a major societal impact, the

creative process I use in the work brings meaning to it. This really resonated with me

being a former engineer designing machine tooling, which to most people would seem

rather boring. If you think about all the engineers in society designing unglamorous

products such as automotive parts, circuit boards, and bearings, they likely do not

receive meaning from seeing people use the products themselves, but through the

secondary meaning in their work in which they are able to use their creative skills in

designing a product to meet a need.

When Bassuk and Goldsmith (2009) discuss the secondary factor of big future

vision they write, “Leaders want to be part of a big vision. Beyond growing a company
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or meeting goals, they want to improve the quality of life for other people, positively

impact global relationships, create a new way for business to be conducted, and invent

ways to influence the greater good” (p. 7). This fits precisely in another way I find

meaning in my current work by focusing on the “big picture”, setting strategy and

developing and sharing my vision for what the future should look like. This is perhaps

the most meaningful part of my current work, especially when it comes to fruition. There

is no better feeling than making a vision become reality by bringing individuals together

to do something they would not have done if it were not for your leadership.

Spirituality in the Workplace: Does it make a difference?

Spirituality in the workplace begins with the individual. Who you are and what

you believe defines your spirituality. Each of us will likely have different views on what

spirituality at work consists of. There is no right or wrong answer to how you define

your spirituality at work. My view of spirituality at work encompasses a variety of

aspects. My view of spirituality at work consists of authenticity, integrity, humility,

compassion, respect, and diversity.

More than anything spirituality has to be about who you truly are. I have come to

learn that who I am is constantly changing. Who I was ten years ago is not who I am

today. I continue to grow as I educate myself and develop new relationships and

nurture the existing ones I have with God and those around me. As Smith (2006)

writes, “There is no list of attributes that you can examine and check off to prove that

you are a spiritual person” (p. 48). You decide whether or not you are spiritual, which

leads to the first characteristic Smith defines as one of the seven essential traits of a

spiritual person-authenticity. An authentic person does not pretend to be someone they

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are not. As Smith (2006) writes, “Authenticity is the character trait of being genuine,

real, and honest both with yourself and others.” She continues with, “Authenticity keeps

you from being subject to the pressure to be like your peers and the pressure to give up

your own sense of self to please others and get ahead” (p. 49). Being spiritual,

therefore, begins with understanding who you are.

Being authentic leads to integrity and trust. A great deal of the turmoil in our

modern world is a result of lack of integrity and trust. Smith (2006) includes integrity

along with authenticity, and humility as factors that are interlinked and dependant upon

each other. As Smith writes about authenticity, integrity, and humility, “All together they

form the foundation of your sense of self and of your sense of place and belonging in

the universe” (p. 48). It begins with being authentic and having integrity, which is

perhaps the most critical of the characteristics Smith uses to describe a spiritual person.

Humility is something that cannot be taught in a classroom. Either you have it or

you do not. Smith (2006) states that, “Humility is an admission of our earthiness, our

creatureliness. It means that we don’t try to control people or fix situations that are

clearly beyond us” (p. 51-52). Humility comes from truly knowing yourself and what

your limitations are. Smith continues with, “Humility doesn’t make you guilt-ridden, but

causes you to acknowledge your limitations and admit your needs” (p. 52). This is a

characteristic many of us have a hard time with, especially men, myself included. No

one wants to admit when they have gone beyond their “comfort zone”, but sometimes

we need to ask for help when we need it. One could also argue that going beyond your

limitations is how we learn. I know for myself when I am stretching beyond my abilities I

usually come out learning something from the experience. Humility also requires you to
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recognize when you are wrong and accept the responsibilities that go along with it. I

find that being a leader it is hard to be humble. People look up to you for answers and

guidance and when you cannot provide them you feel like you are not doing your job. I

have been in this situation before and I know how it feels, but as truly spiritual beings

we have to know ourselves well enough and be comfortable to admit we do not have all

the solutions to the world’s problems, which is difficult for many leaders who have big

egos to feed. Smith quotes leadership communications consultant John Baldoni who

states it well, “most successful leaders understand that a sense of humility is essential

to winning hearts and minds” (p. 53). People we lead want to be led by someone who is

genuine and knows their limitations instead of an “answer man” who always has the

solution to everyone’s problems. I have always said that if we as leaders are trying to

nurture and grow those we lead it will not come from handing out answers. It will come

from asking questions that provoke thought in the minds of those we lead that will

eventually point in the direction of the answer. When that happens true learning takes

place, changing people forever. This is perhaps the single most important reason I

work.

Perhaps what is lacking the most in the workplace today is compassion. We are

all focused entirely on getting the work done and spend little time thinking about how

what we do will impact others. We live in a “me, me, me” work society that is all about

ourselves and what we can do to get that next promotion and the big paycheck that

comes with it. Smith (2006) defines compassion as, “the ability to feel with another

person as though you are that other person” (p. 56). In the past few months I have

certainly become a more compassionate person having to go through the economic

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hardships the US is facing, which has translated into several rounds of layoffs where I

have had the difficult task of telling several people their jobs no longer exist. True

spiritual leaders have to take the focus off themselves from time to time and consider

those around them and how what they do affects those they live and work with.

Respect and diversity go hand in hand in the workplace. Never before have we

seen so much diversity in our workplaces. For most of my life I have lived in the

Midwest where cultural and religious diversity is nearly non-existent. A few years ago

when I moved to California, for the first time in my life I was immersed in both a cultural

and religious melting pot. At first it intimidated me, but as I began to understand some

of the differences between myself and those within my new community, I began to feel

that I really missed out on a lot of what America is about by growing up in Nebraska.

The spiritual workplace must include respect for those who are not like us. Marques,

Dhiman, and King (2007) make an excellent argument for why diversity should be

considered an advantage to the workplace. They state:

When people are aware of each others’ unique perspectives and

contribution capacities, they respect each other more and perceive their

differences as useful, which leads to better team performance and, hence,

richer outcomes for the organization as well as the individuals involved. (p.

96-97)

This goes against what many business leaders do in the real world. We typically

focus on surrounding ourselves with people like us, in other words, minimal diversity.

For many it is easier to respect those who are like you, but what they are missing out on
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is the benefit of creating a rich work environment where diversity thrives and leads to

greater learning, and ultimately better results.

Creating a Spiritual Workplace

The best part of a spiritual workplace is the results that come from it. I have

been living in a spiritual workplace for a number of years. Even though my employer

may not formally preach they have a spiritual workplace I make it one on my own, and

the results are an environment that is exciting, rewarding, energized, creative, and

perhaps most important, fun to work in!

Creating the spiritual workplace no doubt begins with the people who work in it.

Those people have to be authentic with integrity in all they do while being

compassionate about those around them. It is also critical that they respect each

other’s point of view and honor the value of a diverse work force.

Rutte (1996) argues that working in a spiritual environment means, “that work

would move from merely being a place to get enough money to survive-from just

earning our daily bread-to being a place of livelihood.” I like the way Rutte describes it

as a place of livelihood. A spiritual workplace is full of energy that leads to what modern

business needs most to stay competitive, creativity and innovation.

The challenge that lies ahead for leaders is creating this environment. Rutte

(1996) describes the modern workplace as less about survival and more about

transforming it into a place of livelihood. I agree that we are no longer working to simply

survive and put food on our table. We have gone past this point and for many it is now

about the toys we have in the garage of our oversized homes that we work for. As I

stated earlier, I too once was focused on “keeping up with the Joneses”, but have since
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then realized my work is not about the “things” I can buy, but more so about finding true

meaning in what I do. It is also now more about helping others in what they do, helping

them to find true meaning in work. Both of these activities are how I feed my spirit in all

that I do while working.

Rutte (1996) discusses how we have moved from survival mode where

command and control techniques reigned supreme, to the spiritual environment I work

in today where increasing productivity is done through, as Rutte describes, “nurturing

the expression of the self and the spirit.” This nurturing comes from doing work that has

true meaning. Rutte discusses a conversation he had with an executive from a large

utility company on the future of leadership that I believe captures the essence of what

we as spiritual leaders in business need to be doing in our quest to create the spiritual

workplace. Speaking to Rutte the executive said, “Imagine what would happen if you

had a company in which all the people were doing their life's work. You would have

more loyalty, more resilience, more creativity, more innovation, and a deeper sense of

self-reliance, self-renewal and self-generation." I can only dream of one day working in

such a company surrounded by people doing their life’s work. I firmly believe spirituality

can exist in a workplace even if you are not doing your life’s work. I work in one every

day and see others doing the same, but what a different world this would be if everyone

was doing their life’s work.

Does Spirituality Lead to Profitability?

It is great to talk about spirituality at work, but what matters most to business

leaders are results. Even if you work in the most spiritual of environments if the results

do not meet owner and/or shareholder expectations none of it matters.

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There is no doubt that people who are personally satisfied at work are going to

be more productive. You do not need any data to prove this point. Look around you

and you will notice that the successful people you work with are happier than those who

are not as successful, but is it leading to increased profitability?

McLaughlin (2004) writes that a growing body of research shows that profitability

and spirituality are not mutually exclusive. McLaughlin reports on a recent study by

Professor Curtis Verschoor at the University of Chicago that found those companies

that had a defined corporate commitment to ethics did better financially than those who

did not. She cites the scandal involved with Nike and their use of child labor that led to

a 27 percent decrease in Nike’s stock price, and the fall of companies such as Enron

and Arthur Anderson because of ethical violations as evidence that a spiritual workplace

leads to an ethical environment where long term profitability is more likely than in

companies where unethical activities are taking place. Mclaughlin goes on to report on

additional research done by David Lewin, a UCLA business professor, in which he

found that companies involved with the community had a greater likelihood of showing

an improved financial situation over a two-year time period.

A final data point Mclaughin (2004) discusses is perhaps the most convincing

argument that spirituality in the workplace leads to increase profitability. It comes from

a Trends Report that found 75 percent of consumers they polled said they are likely to

switch to brands linked to a good cause, assuming price and quality remain equal. I

have found myself in this situation a number of times, having to choose between two

brands, and in a lot of cases my selection comes down to how I “feel” about the

companies I have to choose from.

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Garcia-Zamor (2003) cites two studies linking profitability to spirituality in the

workplace. The first study completed by the Harvard Business School compared 10

companies with what he calls “spirited workplaces” to 10 with weaker cultures selected

from a list of 207 corporations. Over an 11 year period the researchers found that a

strong correlation existed between the strength of the organization’s culture and

profitability. The study showed that some of the companies with strong cultures

outperformed the weaker companies by as much as 500 percent in net earnings, return

on investment, and shareholder value. The second study was completed by Vanderbilt

Universitiy’s Business School and found similar results, selecting companies from

Fortune magazine’s 100 best companies to work for.

It is clear that spirituality in the workplace will lead to an environment where

ethical behavior is more likely to exist. There is obviously more to profitability than

ethical behavior, but the data certainly exists to make an argument that it is one of the

factors leading to it, giving leaders trying to implement spirituality in the workplace

another argument for the initiative.

Spirituality and Happiness

As I researched topics for this paper more and more I realized that for me, and

likely many others, there is a link between spirituality and happiness. Layard (2003), an

expert on happiness from the London School of Economics, argues that despite our rise

in incomes around the world people have not become happier. Layard defines

happiness as, “feeling good-enjoying life and feeling it is wonderful” (p. 25). He goes on

to define unhappiness as, “feeling bad and wishing things were different” (p. 25).
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Layard’s (2003) research suggests that neuroscientists have been able to link

feeling happy to brain readings, making measurement of happiness a possibility. Many

of us would generally link happiness to income levels, and to some degree research

shows that it is linked to happiness until it reaches a certain level. Layard writes, “41

percent of people in the top quarter of incomes are “very happy”, compared with only 26

percent of those in the bottom quarter of incomes” (p. 25). He concludes that once a

certain level of income is reached “extra” money no longer leads to an increase in

happiness.

Layard (2003) points out six main factors research shows increases happiness.

These factors include mental health, satisfying and secure work, a secure and loving

private life, a secure community, freedom, and moral values. One could argue that

several of these factors, especially good mental health and satisfying work, are linked to

spirituality.

I find that my spiritual coworkers are generally a “happy” group, and for me

happiness is a direct link to my spiritual workplace, primarily coming from when I do

satisfying work. I think the word “spiritual” for many leaders is still too closely tied to

religion and perhaps focusing on creating a “happy” environment may be another way,

albeit having somewhat of an ulterior motive, to begin the work of creating a spiritual

workplace. I believe, despite the data, it will be a lot easier to convince corporate

leadership to transform a working environment into a spiritual workplace if the strategy

were to focus on ethical behavior and happy employees. There is too much workplace

taboo in the word “spiritual” that still has executives running away thinking the next thing

they will be asked to do is provide a Bible in every desk drawer and allow time for
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prayer each day. Focusing on ethics and happiness is most likely to be an easier sell

when striving for a spiritual workplace.

My Journey Forward and the Pursuit of Happiness

Four months ago I had never heard of George Fox University. It was not until my

doctoral program research that I came across GFU and knew it was the only option I

wanted to pursue once I read the school’s mission, vision, and values. Unfortunately, I

was a month past the deadline for applying to the doctoral program, but not wanting to

wait another year I took a chance and applied.

God was smiling down on me and no doubt was part of how I received

acceptance into the program. It was not until the week of residency in May that I knew I

had made the right decision in coming to GFU. A large part of the learning process is

not just the subject matter you read and write about, but also those you take the journey

with. Professors, fellow students, and staff all play a part in making the journey

challenging and rewarding. After meeting those who will join me in this journey there is

no doubt I will leave the program a better person.

I have always been what I consider a spiritual person. I grew up a Lutheran and

spent the first seven years of my education at a private Christian school struggling to

grasp the religious aspects of my studies. I was eventually successful in convincing my

parents to place me in public school and quickly moved away from all organized

religion. It was not until I returned to graduate school in 1999 at the University of Sioux

Falls, a Christian liberal arts university similar to GFU, that religion came back into my

life. Somehow God led me to USF and through the process helped me find my true

vocation of leading and helping others succeed in achieving their goals.

 Scott Thor - Finishing God’s Work - 21
BUSG 701 – Spirituality and Management – Conniry

The doctoral program at GFU is a continuation of my journey in helping others

succeed. This class has reinvigorated my spiritual side through the readings and

interaction during the residency. In short, it has set the stage for the next chapter in my

journey forward at GFU and my personal and private life.

What I will take most away from this course throughout the doctoral program

came from reading Palmer (2000) who writes:

Vocation does not come from willfulness. It comes from listening. I must

listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about-quite apart from

what I would like it to be about-or my life will never represent anything real

in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions. (p. 4)

I have realized that the voice I have been hearing lately is the vocation Palmer

discusses. It is what has been speaking to me the last few months telling me that I am

not doing my life’s work. It is what has led me to GFU. I have discovered, as Palmer

states, that I have not been listening to my life trying to understand what it is truly about

until I started the doctoral program. Parker’s (2000) words really resonated with me

when I read:

Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life

telling me who I am. I must listen for the truths and values at the heart of

my own identity, not the standards by which I must live-but the standards

by which I cannot help but live if I am living my own life. (p. 4-5)

I feel as if I am more “in-tune” with what my life’s purpose is since completing the

readings and residency for this course. I can honestly say GFU is part of God’s plan for

me.
 Scott Thor - Finishing God’s Work - 22
BUSG 701 – Spirituality and Management – Conniry

God has a plan for everyone and part of that plan, I believe, is carried out

through the spirituality we bring into our workplaces. It has some to do with us as

individuals and finding our true meaning in work, but I feel it has even more to do with

those we lead. Chittister (1995) sums it up best with the following parable:

Once upon a time, the ancients tell, past the seeker on a prayer rug came

the beggars and the broken and the beaten. The pray-er was appalled and

looking up to heaven cried out, "Great and loving God, if you are a loving

God, look at these and do something!" And the voice came back from

heaven, "I did do something. I made you."

I agree with Chittister in her response to this story in which she states, “A

spirituality of work is that process by which I finally come to know that my work is God's

work, unfinished by God because God meant it to be finished by me.” My hope for the

remainder of the doctoral program is that I further reinforce my true calling by mentoring

and leading others utilizing the tools I gain during my studies at GFU. I believe that is

the work God meant for me to finish and I know without the knowledge I will gain

through the doctoral studies at GFU it will be difficult to carry out God’s plan for my life.
 Scott Thor - Finishing God’s Work - 23
BUSG 701 – Spirituality and Management – Conniry

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