| Business
& Spirituality:
An Oxymoron? Interviews and Book Reviews Life SOS (Secrets Of Success) | by Maryel McKinley Normally, this column is devoted to two authors answering life's penetrating questions on The EDGE's theme of the month. But when I realized that in a world with Enron scandals and people who are selling themselves on TV in "reality shows" to the best bachelor to make money, I felt that it would be most appropriate to talk with Unity church employees and ministers, as well as Interfaith minister Phillip Goldberg, known for "Making Peace with God" and "Roadsigns." Business and spirituality, sounds like one heck of an oxymoron, don't you agree? As Rev. Sharon Connors, the renowned Unity Village Chapel Minister, would say, "It's simple, but not easy"! Her associate minister at Unity, Rev. Marianne Jones, noted, "We cannot separate our spiritual lives by practicing them in one area, and leaving them out in another." Meaning, we must practice holistic principles of integrity and prosperity in all of our affairs. When I spoke with Tom Zender, the first Unity CEO that is not a Fillmore (Charles and Myrtle Fillmore co-founded Unity School of Christianity, the Daily Word Meditation Book and Silent Unity Prayer Ministry), he said he and his partners practiced integrity, holistic and spiritual principles for the past 10 years, long before he was asked to be CEO of Unity Institute. Zender was in key positions at the head of several Fortune 500 companies. Prior to obtaining the position of CEO of Unity Institute three years ago, he was a venture capitalist for start-up companies.He told me that he and his partners actually would pray together, despite practicing different faiths. This was done frequently before meetings and decision-making processes. He said it helped the business become a win-win situation and there was less stress and a better working environment. Zender reminded me that one of the basic Unity practices is the practice of affirmative prayer, and that he encourages his employees to utilize this basic Unity principle that he does every day. He even gave some of his employees the late Eric Butterworths' brilliant book Spiritual Economics: You Deserve Abundance -- Reshaping Your Attitudes about Money, Spirituality and Personal Prosperity. If you are interested in learning about spirituality and prosperity, I would recommend Unity's 4 T classes, which I have attended. They have changed my life. For instance, take the story of Rev. John Washington, Unity minister and host of the radio show Unity New Thought. He attended a Unity prosperity class that teaches how to increase prosperity consciousness, wealth, health and happiness in the form of tangible results within mere weeks. After just two weeks in the class, he had reached his goal of signing a contract for his own radio show. We decided to continue this discussion about business and prosperity live on his show, from 2:45-3 p.m. Monday, May 31, on station KPRT 1590 AM. In closing, Eric Butterworth, the first Unity minister to appear on Oprah, reminds us, "Prosperity is one of God's greatest gifts to us. A loving Father/Mother God would not want Its children to be in poverty, and it is an axiomatic universal law that prosperity will occur when we do put spiritual practices into business!" My next interview is with Philip Goldberg, a spiritual counselor, interfaith minister and seminar leader based in Los Angeles. He is director of The Forge Guild of Spiritual Leaders and Teachers, and the author or co-author of 17 books, most recently "Making Peace With God" and "Roadsigns: Navigating Your Path to Spiritual Happiness." Dr. Goldberg, How can our EDGE readers practice spirituality in business? Phillip Goldberg: People say they don't have time for their spiritual life. Their "to do lists" are so long that they're constantly on the go. So, I have them also make a "to be list." They write down all the things they can do to nourish the soul, refresh the body and clear the mind. They make three columns: One for things that take up to three minutes; one for things that take up to 30 minutes; and one for things that take up to three hours or longer. When you attend to your "to be list," the "to do list" becomes less intimidating. You manage obligations more effectively. You have better ideas. And, when you get things done, you have more capacity to actually enjoy your achievements. Those who value their spiritual lives can be very idealistic about work. They want their work to be meaningful, they want to be consistent with their spiritual values and they want it to have a sense of calling. Unfortunately, the "follow your bliss" model doesn't always work, and meanwhile you have to pay the bills. At those times, you have to ask not what can your work do for you, but what can you do for your work. If your current work situation is not conducive to spiritual needs, you should certainly look for a more amenable situation. But in the meantime, you can bring a different consciousness to your work. You can turn the workplace into a spiritual classroom, where you learn vital lessons about integrity, honesty, compassion and fairness. At work, you get to walk your walk! * * * Book Reviews The books I have chosen to review for the business and spirituality issue are "Roadsigns" by interfaith minister and best-selling author of more than 17 books, Phillip Goldberg, Ph.D., and Robert Rabbin's "Igniting The Soul At Work: A Mandate for Mystics. I would also like to take this opportunity to recommend a few other books that I do not have room to review but are noteworthy: Eric Butterworth's "Spiritual Economics: You Deserve Abundance"; Dr. Rev. Toni Boehm's "The Spiritual Intrapreneur"; Lynn Twists' "The Soul of Money"; Alan Cohen's new "Mr. Everit's Secret: What I Learned from the World's Richest Man"; Arthur Jeon's "City Dharma"; and Rev. Jim Rosemergys' "Even Mystics Have Bills To Pay." Igniting The Soul At Work: A Mandate for Mystics, by Robert Rabbin, Hampton Roads Publishing Did you know that corporate greed has caused the loss of 111,000 job losses monthly? What would happen if we banded together and decided to reclaim the American dream by seeking prosperity through inspired, passionate and ethical means by using holistic models and spiritual principles? What an amazing blessing Robert Rabbins' "Igniting the Soul at Work" is to those of us who are weary and tired of dealing with people who take advantage of the employee, stretching as much as they can from us with little in return. But when we approach our work with a Zen-like experience, we can become masters of our destiny. This is the perfect book to help the reader manifest your ultimate dreams-come-true without having to sacrifice who you are and what your personal boundaries and holistic principles represent. Ironically, in finding books to review for this issue, a so-called "spiritual guru" actually brought me to tears because I had misspelled the word love in an e-mail. After reading Robert Rabbins' magnificent piece of art, I realized that although I might have made a human mistake and might not be able to spell love perfectly at all times, at least I know how to practice it in my business situations! After reading the book, I became ignited to follow my integrity and not allow such abusive events to occur ever again in my stressful world of the publishing business. Thank you so much Robert Rabbin for your wonderful, inspiring book. Roadsigns: Navigating Your Path to Spiritual Happiness, by Phillip Goldberg, Ph.D., Rodale Publishing Best-selling author of more than 17 books, interfaith minister Phillip Goldberg has produced his best work yet -- Roadsigns: Navigating Your Path to Spiritual Happiness. It has been heralded by others -- Deepak Chopra and Cheryl Richardson, among others -- as a "wealth of experience " and a literary masterpiece. Roadsigns: Navigating Your Path to Spiritual Happiness provides much-needed direction and clarity for those on the path of integrity in their lives, especially during these difficult times. The spiritual oath needs to be practiced everywhere, whether at work, on the freeway, or at home. Roadsigns gives excellent examples of how we night practice these principles from an eclectic interfaith view, as each chapter allows the reader to find his or her own path by following simple "roadsigns" that are cleverly built into the book's format. A book overflowing with wisdom for every situation, not just the workplace, Roadsigns is a brilliant and unprecedented book that is for the layman, as well as the serious seeker. I highly recommend it for everyone's library. Maryel McKinley, Ph.D., D.D., C.A.D.C., has a private practice in Lee's Summit, Mo. For a free consultation with Dr. McKinley, refer to her ad in this newspaper, call (816) 347-0027, or visit www.DrMaryelMckinley.com Copyright © 2004 Maryel McKinley |
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May 2004 |
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