Grits

Spirituality in the workplace is totally selfless

I had a BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious) the other morning while walking in the hills of my Santa Fe home. It occurred to me that the very motivation, the essence even, of everyone who desires to bring their spiritual nature to the workplace is to help others.

Let that sink in for a second or two. This is huge, seems to me. Because what it means is that the yearning to know more about one's own spirituality becomes entirely selfless and inclusive when practiced in a group environment. In fact, if someone is really striving to be a better person in the workplace -- like, better relationship with co-workers, happier attitude through higher purpose, even better decision-making through righteous wisdom -- everyone in the workplace benefits.

How cool is that? Not only is that a present, tangible benefit, you score in the metaphysical being of life. Probably every faith tradition mandates the necessity of improving one's self in order to bless others. Actually, it seems to me, this indicates that helping others is inherent in our divine, spiritual nature.  It's that important.

But, sheesh, there are a lot of ways to skate on that. I know for myself that I can get very caught up in focusing my prayers on "my" problems, "my" priorities, "my" issues...and not include friends, family and community in my prayers. OUCH!! Not only that, lots of work environments aren't welcoming of folks discussing spiritual values relative to work issues. So there are "forces" that conspire against practicing what is truly natural to each of us.

However! Since the yearning to understand more about your spirituality can't be stopped then the desire to help others can't be stopped either. The workplace is that opportunity -- hey, maybe it is even a divine opportunity -- where your complete spiritual nature is put into practice.

This morning I was reading the story of Solomon when he is praying to God for guidance, now that he is the new king. His prayer is this:

Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

I've read this many times. But today it really hit me: Solomon has taken on a new job and basically he is asking God to give him more spiritual understanding SO THAT he can help others in his new job. God is really REALLY happy with Solomon and he becomes one of the most loved of Old Testament rulers.

To me this is not saying we SHOULD be this selfless...it is saying we ARE this selfless. When we strive to develop spiritually and bring this state of consciousness to our workplace, we bless everyone we come into contact with.

Arresting violence...in Bombay and your hometown.

I have been really thinking about how to pray about the Bombay commuter train bombings. It's been hard -- I have imagined how the typical commuting scene is played out in any city around the globe. You are just going to work, thinking about the meetings you need to get ready for or the projects you have to complete...and, suddenly you are the target -- and victim -- of someone's hatred. Through no fault of your own. It's so -- random. How do you defend yourself against senseless violence?

Several years ago, my advertising agency was the target of a firebomb. Not at all on the same level as the Bombay bombing...but for my 15 employees, it was pretty scary all the same and could have had disastrous results.

It was right after lunchtime, and I heard someone yell, "There's a firebomb in the stairwell!"

I ran out of my office, along with several employees, to see what was going on . There it was. On the landing, two flights up from the main entrance of my advertising agency: a glass bottle filled with gasoline and a burning cigarette that had been knocked off its position.

"Somebody please call the police," I said, as the employees nervously speculated as to who would do such a thing and why. Unless somebody really didn't like our commecials, there was no logical reason why the agency would be targeted. What occurred to me at that moment was there was no logical reason for violence at all! While we waited for the police to show up, I went back to my office to figure out what to do.

I wanted my staff to feel protected, no matter what was going on outside our door. I wanted peace and order to be the stronger force, not rage and violence. And I wanted to feel safe. But at this moment I didn't know how.

So I turned to the one source for help that has always come through for me: God, the force of all Life, who has the power and willingness to give me an answer of peace.

And sure enough, the ideas started flowing: How could we not be safe in the omnipresence of divine Love? How could there be any other power? Nothing could overcome the supreme and universal law of harmony and goodness.

Now the question became: how to become more convinced of these spiritual facts than of the physical threat that seemed so close and so real?

From my Bible study and experience in my life I knew the answer would come by focusing on the spiritual facts and not letting the physical picture dominate my thinking. I knew that if I did this sincerely and trustingly, I would get some evidence of the peace and harmony associated with the underlying spiritual reality. For me, this is prayer. So, that is what I did.

In the middle of all this, the police came. They said the paraphenalia on the stairs looked a lot like the evidence of several arson fires in the city in the past several weeks. What occurred to me then was that this kind of destructive activity had to be arrested for the safety and protection of the whole community. And this would come about through the action of the divine law that overrides any thought out of sync with God's goodness.

Well, here was something I could really do to help my staff AND the city. Instead of being afraid, feeling vulnerable to random violent acts, distrusting people, I could work to change my own fearful thoughts - fears that were probably the same as my employees' -- and secure them with a fresh conviction that God's love is the only force motivating and protecting all of us in any situation.

So, arresting violence needed to start with my own thinking. I needed to exert more discipline over my thoughts, to confirm them to what I knew to be spiritually true. I couldnt just let them run wild, stampeded by "what-ifs". I also had to strengthen my belief that whatever disturbed mind would perpetrate these fires, would NOT be able to escape the correction enforced by divine law.

I prayed this way continously for my staff and the community over the next several days. My fear evaporated and soon the atmosphere in the office settled into the normal work pace with no more concern. Within the week, the police called to say that they had arrested someone who turned out to be the perpetrator, thanks to a fingerprint left on the evidence in our office. The evidence also indicated this was the arsonist responsible for the other fires as well.

That experience of the bomb in the stairwell has prompted me to pray for the safety and protection of those who may feel vulnerable to attack, including the Bombay commuters. I figure I have an ongoing responsibility to be a peacemaker through prayer. For me, this means I can begin to police my own thoughts and arresting any ideas that would contradict God's universal and unfailing love for all.

Career track and job satisfaction

Is there really such a thing as a “career track” these days? I used to think there was something like that  -- something I was supposed to articulate, find and stay on....but to be honest, any achievements I have had in working didn’t follow a track or pattern, but more having to do with “satisfaction.”

Now, maybe to a lot of people satisfaction is defined by following a set path to a particular career goal (by X number of years I can be partner in a law firm? Managing director of a consultancy? Senior manager of a company?).

To me, job satisfaction has way more to do with internal checkpoints, not punching your ticket with job assignments.

When I was just starting out, I had to be challenged. In my 20’s a headhunter once observed about me that it was death by a thousand cuts if I felt I was coasting in a job – I had to be striving constantly to learn more and accomplishing tasks that were just out of reach. Hard to maintain every day. Consequently, I was mostly dissatisfied in my early work life! Hard on a boss too to keep me engaged.

At one point, I was working at a regional advertising agency and my boss was pretty good at throwing stuff at me that was very challenging. But eventually I felt like I was doing the same thing over and over again. AAAACK! Also, I owned some shares in the agency, so technically I was an “owner.” But it didn’t feel like I had any juice whatsoever.

And then I had a brilliant idea. I heard that one of the majority owners who had one-third ownership was ready to sell his shares.  So one day I marched into the president’s office (he was my day-to-day boss) and said I would like to buy all the shares.  Hah! That would keep me revved up for awhile!

Well, he was gracious about saying “no thanks” but it was a little too fast. Could be I surprised the hell of him. Not sure why, he was my age (29) when he started the agency.

I hung around for several more months but I really wanted the experience of running my own shop. Around that time, my husband wanted to open a division of his home furnishings company to focus on office furnishings so I jumped to establish that.

During this time I was also getting serious about my spiritual development. I was studying the Bible
pretty regularly and figuring out how to apply the insights I was learning into my life, particularly my work experience.

One of the lessons that kept tugging on me was Jesus’ statement “Not my will but thine be done.” Jesus utters this when he asks God to let him off the hook for the crucifixion. Phew! What trust, what love, what humility!

Somewhere in my consciousness I knew that kind of yielding to a divine direction – no matter what – was NOT the kind of direction I had been following. It was more, “gee I’m bored, what else can I do?”

After a couple of years of spiritual study and discovery, I had a new realization about what would satisfy me in my work experience. Instead of continually looking for yet another challenging task, I really wanted to contribute to whatever workplace I was in. How could I make it better? In other words, the job wasn’t about what I needed – what did a workplace need that I could help with? This would be my job.

Interestingly, about this time I did a strategic plan for my husband’s business and it became obvious to him and me that my role was extraneous!

Instead of madly rushing around looking for another job, I paused for several days in deep study and prayer. I asked God, the Spirit of all Life, what did She want me to do? How could I contribute to a workplace by expressing Her qualities of goodness, respect, creativity?

After a couple of weeks of thinking about this and praying to know that not only would Spirit guide me in the right direction, I would recognize it as God-directed too!

One day, when I was reading another of my favorite Bible commentaries, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, I stopped and said outloud “OK, God, what do you want me to do? I will do ANYTHING – EVEN go back to work for my old boss at the agency!!”

Oh man, this was my moment of total yielding – it was the first time I knew what it meant to believe, “Not my will but thine be done.” It is hard to describe the peace and exhilaration I felt...because at the same moment of utter yielding, it was also a “calling forth” – a total expectation to see and experience what God wanted me to do.  No doubt, Spirit was already guiding me to the right place. I felt free!

A couple of hours later – I am not making this up – the phone rang. It is my old boss. “Remember a few years ago when you wanted to buy a third of the agency? Well, I am ready to retire and I would like to sell you my ownership (over half of the total stock).”

Oh, God is so good...and clear!!! Within the month we had negotiated the deal and I stepped in as president of the firm. For 15 years this experience gave me all the challenges and accomplishments I could hope for. But most important, the spiritual lessons I learned became a foundation for continued spiritual growth.

How could it not? The experience was based on yielding to total trust in Her will, not mine. And that is job satisfaction for me.

Enron and you

Well. It took 4-1/2 years from the beginning to the end: Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling and founder Kenneth Lay were found guilty in federal court of the biggest corporate conspiracy and fraud case in the US.

Skilling was found guilty on 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud, false statements and insider trading and Lay was found guilty on all six counts of conspiracy and fraud.

The jury found they misled the public about the true financial health of Enron, whose collapse in late 2001 triggered the tsunami of corporate fraud that swept the United States. Enron's collapse marked the first of the high-profile corporate scandals, followed by WorldCom, Global Crossing, Adelphia and Tyco. And there was a ripple effect that hugely impacted accounting firms and corporations. All this fraud led to passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley law that tightened oversight of how American companies are audited.

Phew. To be honest, it is a bit anti-climactic. I hope it is not because I am inoculated to the outrageousness of the crimes. These crimes cannot possibly be minimized just because they are so-called "white collar" crimes. The Enron leadership (Skilling and Lay et al.) built a house of cards on lies, greed, selfishness and malfeasance that collapsed and buried thousands of innocent employees as well as scores of investors, many of whom had invested their life savings. How much? Enron's collapse took with it more than $60 billion in market value, almost $2.1 billion in pension plans and 5,600 jobs.

Ahhh, here it comes... I am feeling that same wrath and rage when the news first hit in 2001.  At the time, I remember thinking, Don't "we the people" have oversight through multiple impartial processes, like regulations and regulators...the government, accounting firms, the 4th Estate? Where was everybody? How could this happen? Was anyone doing what they were supposed to be doing?

After 4-1/2 years of investigation we now know that a whole lot of people were either incented to go along or look away...and others were so bamboozled by the intricate shell game they missed the fraud entirely.

The question really should be, "How did Enron get busted?" After all, weren't these guys "the smartest guys in the room"?

Turns out that in the months prior to Enron declaring bankruptcy, several employees at the company stated concerns about accounting practices and dubious partnerships. One employee, Sherron Watkins, who was VP for corporate development, courageously raised her voice loud and clear. She wrote to Ken Lay and management of improper management (yeah, she held a mirror to the crooks!) and accounting practices that threatened to destroy the company. She saw the pattern of behavior and what was at stake. And took a stand. Not just in the "privacy" of the company...she went public.

Sherron and others like her in Enron prove that the best and most effective "regulation" comes from "within" to be reliable: from the hearts and consciences of people who naturally turn to a principle, a code, a higher value system to guide them, no matter what the situation might be. Many relate this principle to a higher wisdom, a guiding Spirit. I know I do.

An organization is not a mindless machine, it is an orchestration of mentalities -- people whose daily thoughts and decisions shape and regulate a company. How important, then, for companies to encourage all of their employees to discover and develop those spiritual values that best promote goodness, honesty, integrity, compassion. Imagine what the force of everyday workers calling on their spiritual nature to do what is right could do for their companies, their investors and the public. There would be far fewer Enrons, and far more examples of the goodness of spiritual power.

"Honesty is spiritual power. Dishonesty is human weakness, which forfeits divine help," wrote spiritual thinker and businesswoman Mary Baker Eddy, who founded a global publishing and communications company in the 19th century that still exists today.

Anyone of us, wherever we work, may be presented at any time with an ethical choice: to rely on a higher wisdom, recognize and act in accord with our spiritual nature and do what is right -- or go along with a prevailing practice that is less than honest. If anyone is in doubt, the convictions of Enron management should reinforce proper behavior. But the fear of punishment cannot ensure ethical practice.

What the Enron example really illustrates is the power of a few good people to act in accord with their spiritual nature and do what is right. If you are faced with the choice, will you stand with these few good people? You will be expressing your true spiritual nature...and standing with spiritual power.

Too much work? What to do next

Any given workday, most people have more to do than time to do it in, right? Then add family responsibilities and any kind of community work -- how in the world can one person do it all? Hah! How about just picking what to do next?

Sometimes I think this 24/7 world is a crock...I mean, it gives the illusion that we can do more, when all we've done is just added to the list of things we think we should do every day. But the issue of having too much work and too little time has simply expanded with the clock. Hasn't gotten better, in fact it has gotten worse for a lot of people.

But I think I have figured out for myself how to prioritize the activities -- and time -- better. I stopped micro-managing the clock and the list and instead looked at what I was doing from a higher perspective.

Sure, I could do practical things to decide what to do next, like projects that are on deadline and GOTTA be done right away. And maybe I could pick stuff that is easy to do so no biggie, just do them and cross them off the list. And then there are those things that other people are relying on me for -- I am part of a team so I don't get to pick the time to do the work.

Hmmm, this is how it ALL gets demanding, with no clear direction on what to do next that satisfies everyone, me included. Which is why I needed to find a better "decision-tree" on prioritizing activities.

During a particularly stressful period in my life -- running my ad agency AND managing key clients, volunteeering several hours a week for my church, helping out with my extended family needs -- I spent a LOT of time staring at my "to-do" list. I would make a dent here and there, usually because circumstances (i.e. deadlines) screamed loudest. But I felt like a hamster on a wheel, not really getting anywhere. And certainly not feeling at all satisfied with my work. Where was the joy in all this?

At one point, it got to a breaking point: stupid mistakes were happening in the agency work and I felt totally out of control --  now it looked like I had to ADD double-checking my staff's work to my list. In desperation, I called a good friend of mine who is a spiritual mentor and wailed, "What do I do? I feel totally helpless!"

Right off the bat he asked me, "Are you devoting enough time each day to your spiritual study?"

Aaaack! No! He didn't get it! I needed tips on how to order my list and get it all done each day....oh, and by the way, the first thing that got knocked OFF my list was the spiritual study -- no time.

Fortunately, I didn't say these things out loud. Haha, he probably could tell by the look on my face that he wasn't getting any traction yet! So he went on to explain it more specifically.

"The most important part of your day is communing with the Supreme Being, the intelligence that orders the universe. Then you know without a doubt that you are in Her service this day." He went on to say that if my FIRST PRIORITY, my heart's desire, is to express spiritual qualities then I was truly in Her service. And that this would have a practical effect of knowing what was important to do that day. Because: it would be the thing that would advance my spiritual growth!

OMG, I can't tell you how FREE I felt at that moment!! I mean, I finally felt like I had the foundation, the core principle of how I needed to approach each day, each decision, each activity.  I walked back to my office smiling and feeling lighter than air. Seriously. It was like my whole life had taken a right turn. And it changed the way I approached every single day, then and to the present.

Here's what I learned:

First, I commit to spending a portion of the day in spiritual study and communion. For me, that is best in the early morning before the events of the day start crowding in, demanding attention. And it "sets up" the day in the right way. Usually, there is one spiritual insight that particularly means something that day -- and throughout the day, whatever decisions are to be made, I relate that insight to my thinking at that moment. It never fails to clarify the next step.

Next, when I look at activities or projects, I ask myself: Am I doing it because it is easy to do? Or I feel like I am the ONLY one who can do it? Is pressure forcing me to take action?

Divine Spirit should be guiding me, not pressure or time or perceived responsibility. When that is my northstar, I am confident that right decisions will be made and all will be blessed because we are all in the ordered, harmonious universe of Spirit. And maybe there is someone else who should be taking responsibility for the project that fell on my list. I must choose that which helps me grow spiritually...perhaps there is something on my list that, while easy for me to do, will help someone else grow spiritually? Lots of times this means I pick the bigger challenge to do :-)

Years later, the net result of this daily approach hasn't minimized my work load -- in fact I actually think I do more. And I am definitely accomplishing a lot more. It doesn't mean that every day is smooth sailing, but whenever I feel like there is more pressure than joy and freedom, then I know what I have to do next. Nope, not check the list. Look to my spiritual preparation and find peace. THEN I can check the list!

Stress at work? Here's a thought...

Stress, stress, stress...it's everywhere: on the job, at home, in school. Everybody talks about it. Everybody seems to be affected by it at some point -- some people on a continuous basis. I have been working on the strategy for a new company (secret! can't tell yet!!) that required me to do a LOT of research on stress, particularly in the workplace. What I read blew me away.

Did you know that 40% of workers feel that their job is very or extremely stressful? (Is that a surprise to you? Was to me.) And that in 2004, 70% of workers believed that employees in their workplace are more stressed out than they were the year before. But here is the really bad news: the Journal of Environmental Medicine reports that there is accumulating evidence to suggest that stress plays a key role in several types of chronic diseases. In addition, 60-90% of doctor visits are stress-related. 

Phew! So stress isn't just simply depressing thoughts -- it can have major physical effects if not treated. This has made me think, ok, if stress which is mental is the cause of many physical illnesses, then if I can modify my mental state -- like, make it more peaceful instead of in turmoil -- I should be able to change the physical effect, no?

A couple of years ago I was engaged in several task forces at work, in addition to overseeing a 24/7 website. All the work, including the website, required collaboration with other managers and departments and often we didn't see eye to eye on many levels. It was like trying to navigate Rubic's Cube: many issues, many agendas, many objectives. I would come home from work very late, eat dinner and fall into bed. Then up early and start all over again. Oh, and this would usually entail weekend work too.

Not only was the work challenging, the relationships were too. I remember many times during the day feeling very ticked off at someone -- usually many someones! It was like sloshing through quicksand to get anywhere. As I look back on it, the bigger challenge was the people part, not the work part. But at the time it felt like this big blob of work just sitting on me.

This had been going on for a few weeks when early one morning I woke up with a major pain in my urinary tract. It was so uncomfortable I could hardly move. But I forced myself to get up (gee, that seemed like what was happening a lot every morning!) because I had a big presentation to give that day. I had to be at work.

Every function of getting dressed was a pain. Finally, standing at the kitchen counter wondering what I should do -- go to work and be in pain, or stay home and be in pain? I said out loud, "This is such a PAIN!!!"

All of a sudden it hit me -- like a thought coming into my head sideways: "This is all about the pain at work: the people not seeing things your way, the projects not working, the stress of trying to drag everyone along with you!"

This was a VERY humbling thought. At that moment I realized that the HUGE annoyance I felt toward everything was the sum of the stress I had been carrying around. In other words, this annoyance could be at the root of my physical pain.

Amazingly the pain I had been feeling for a few hours became somewhat less acute. Huh! Maybe there was a connection here I needed to dig a little deeper into. OK, if the mental annoyance and turmoil is at the root, how can I change that? This negative mental state can be changed into positive thoughts. For me, the most effective positive thoughts are those that are spiritual. These are based on how I think of the divine Spirit, who is all powerful to me, and how I think of my fellow beings.  How can I get rid of the ticked-off feeling about them and align my thinking to the Divine?

Well, I have learned that when I really see myself AND other people as creations of the one Spirit, then my feeling about them turns to the positive. So here was definitely the time to do that!! How could I be annoyed at a creation of Spirit? If Spirit is good and love, then the creations must be good too. I really had to change my way of thinking about them as "causing" my annoyance to seeing them as people of integrity, kindness, caring -- after all, they were giving their best effort to this work.  How could I possibly think I was the only one working hard?

Bottomline, I needed to be GRATEFUL for each one of the people that I was working with. I needed to care about them as children of the one divine Love. In that way, I was seeing myself too as a loved child of the Divine Spirit. They couldn't possibly be annoying and I couldn't suffer the effects of annoyance! I really had to see what was the only substantial cause -- Spirit -- and what was the only effect: good.

I thought a LOT about these spiritually-focused ideas and more over the next hour...because it made me feel SO GOOD! The burden of all the work just kind of evaporated away and I was actually looking forward to going to work. And yes, the pain dwindled away too. In a couple of hours it was gone, but the best feeling I had remained: a feeling of bouyancy, happiness. I hadn't felt that in a long time.

And my relationships with the fellow managers improved significantly -- we finished the projects we were working on, but I the lesson I learned about seeing the good in my colleagues continued. Many times over the next couple of years, when I was tempted to fall into the trap of annoyance, I remembered to be grateful for my co-workers' efforts. Can't be annoyed and grateful at the same time!!

What is stress? In a way it is thinking that you have no control of the situation, whatever it might be. What I learned is that I CAN control my thoughts...and if they are the cause of the stress, then I can change them to be positive, to be in line with spiritual thoughts. And that can change everything.

Competition vs. Cooperation

"Competition" is such a common business practice, isn't it? I mean, it is so common that it is considered acceptable. As a business, you want to know who your competitors are...you are "competing" for the same audience or market. I have been writing a lot of business plans that have the standard "Who is our competition?" section in the outline...because you gotta know who else is in your space so that you can provide the customer with something unique or better, right?

But when you think about it, "competition" means there is always a winner...and a loser. It presumes that there is a limited "something" to go after: first place, larger market share (of a limited number), more earned revenue than the next guy (of the limited pie). Harmless (even necessary) competitive thinking?

Competition slides into real negative territory when you start thinking you want to eliminate it; or, conversely, people think you are harming another company because you are "competing" -- again, for the same limited "something".

Years ago I was developing a website for college sports. It was the first site to approach college athletic departments and offer to post all of their sports info -- scores, game stories, press releases, whatever -- not just the marquee sports (football, basketball), and not only from the "name" schools. This required visiting lots and lots of colleges, explain the website and set up the relationship. It was a pretty cool idea (this was waaaay before ESPN.com!).

However, within a year a competitor arrived on the scene. And his tactic was to bad-mouth his competition (us). I heard about it from another college contact who shared the specifics. I was shocked, horrified and afraid -- this could potentially harm us in the very small (oh yeah, limited) marketplace.

As soon as I hung up the phone, I tried to pray. But I was SO TICKED OFF at the competitor that I wasn't getting anywhere. So I called a friend of mine who I consider a spiritual mentor. I blurted out the terrible thing this competitor had done and, without missing a beat, he said "And what are you thinking about him?"

Aaack! No, my spiritual mentor is missing the POINT! the competitor is the bad guy -- HE needs to change! Fortunately, I didnt say this out loud...but I did squeak, "What??"

He then went on to explain that while I couldn't change the competitor's thinking, I did have control over my own thoughts. And the most important thing for me to do right at this moment was to align my thinking with Spirit and Love. For instance, I could know that Spirit is the only Creator and that Spirit's creation is only good. I am part of that creation and so is my good activity...in fact, good ideas that bless must come from Spirit and Love. And nothing can harm or prevent good ideas.

I started to get a measure of peace -- but I wasn't done! Now I had to include my competitor in my spiritual thinking. He is part of the spiritual creation too. Therefore, he can only be good. And whatever bad stuff he is saying is not true about me AND not true about who he is! So it won't/can't stand against the spiritual idea of who we BOTH are.

Ahh, peace at last. Instead of looking at my competitor as, well, my competitor, I was now looking at him as a compadre...a fellow spiritual being. We are not opposing or warring enemies, we are "cooperating" in the realm of Spirit by living spiritual and good lives.

What happened? I heard from other college contacts that they didn't pay any attention to the talk -- thought it was typical sales chatter (and not effective sales chatter). He eventually stopped it. And then one day I got a call from him saying we should meet and talk about how there might be good potential if we could work together. Cooperate not compete.

We did meet and had subsequent discussions about how it might work. And while we didn't end up working together (both companies went in different directions) we did forge a positive relationship.

When I think about Cooperating vs. Competition, a few things come to mind:

1. In Spirit, there are no losers...or enemies. Every spiritual idea is a winner, loved unconditionally by Spirit. The only thing to lose is the "enemy" label!

2. Good is unlimited and abundant when I abide by spiritual thinking and living. Therefore, I will always have what I need, no limits!

3. The creations of Spirit include all living, spiritual things, and no spiritual creature can harm another. So I must be inclusive in my prayers to bless, not harm, and I will be blessed!

4. And I can be open for Spirit to guide me to ways of cooperation with fellow spiritual beings.

In business plans, there will still be sections called "Who is our competition?". But imagine what could happen when we see our competitors as spiritual beings? We are already cooperating with them in the realm of Spirit.

Caring for the world, one person at a time.

OK, I know I have blogged a lot about Jill Carroll, her capture, her trials in captivity and, happily, her release. But reading the stories and watching the video of her welcome home by her family and her other family, The Christian Science Monitor, made me weep. Jill talks about the extraordinary lengths the Monitor went to in order to get her released (she calls herself a "lowly freelancer"), and the incredible outpouring of love and practical support not only for her and her family but her Iraqi interpreter's family (he was slain in the kidnapping). You gotta watch the video and listen to Jill's words...she describes how a caring organization is supposed to feel and act.

It made me think of the Bible story of the one lost sheep. A shepherd in the desert with his flock notices that one of his 100 sheep is missing. Instead of calculating, "Oh well, one percent lost isnt too bad a shrinkage issue...", he leaves the 99 to find the one.

He knows that the 99 are safe -- they know how to stick together and look out for each other. But there is one in dire need. There is one who is vulnerable and exposed to danger. That is reason enough for his effort to seek out and help that little one. The parable concludes with the shepherd finding the lost sheep and rejoicing.

To me, the shepherd represents the guiding and guarding force of the divine Shepherd, infinite Life (this is God to me). Every single one of Life's creatures is ordered, placed, and unconditionally loved -- even I am, when I think I am displaced, misplaced, out of order or even hated. Who am I to challenge this Life-force? Even the little sheep could not stray from it.

A spiritual author who has never failed to provide insight and comfort for me, Mary Baker Eddy, writes, "Let us open our affections to the Principle that moves all in harmony, -- from the falling of a sparrow to the rolling of a world."

As a manager, I have overseen staffs of 15 people to 100 people. It is easy to think about and make extra effort for those who you see every day and work closely with. But now I am thinking, have I cared for ALL of my staff as the shepherd cared for all of his sheep? Clearly, as the Bible story shows, not all 100 sheep are needing help at the same time!

But I am thinking that I need to really listen -- and pray to listen -- for anyone that needs extra care and practical help from me. And then I need to respond. To think "what can one person do?" is a cop-out -- and is actually another way of saying "what is the importance of one person (or one family) in need?"

The Christian Science Monitor is known for a very humanitarian view of the whole world. Jill said she knew and respected what the Monitor was about, but until she saw its principles lived in her own life, she didn't know what it meant until now.

If I am going to care about the world, then I need to practice caring, one-by-one, at home, in the community, in my work.

"This is a wonderful day!"

Jill Carroll was released from captivity today. Jill, a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, was kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents almost 3 months ago. David Cook, Washington Bureau chief of the Monitor, said "This is a wonderful day!" when he heard the news. A former colleague of Jill's at the Jordan Times, Natasha Tynes said "...our prayers have been answered."

Prayer has been a constant for thousands of people around the world. Christians, Jews, Muslims, all faiths, have joined together to pray for her safety and release. And this has led to extraordinary practical efforts by political, non-political, NGOs and even inter-faith groups from many countries to join hands and make strong appeals, both public and private. The US Government, the Iraqi government, the Christian Science Monitor, the Jordan Times, Reporters Without Borders, Inter-Faith group of Detroit (large Muslim community) are just a few groups who have steadfastly persevered to get Jill freed. 

I woke up this morning thinking about Spirit (this is another way of describing God to me) and the divine quality of "steadfastness." It is a thing I really try to do every morning before I get up: think about a quality of Spirit, then think about how that must be reflected by the creation that Spirit made...which includes all of mankind and even me! Through the day, then, i think about it and very very often it helps me bring a spiritual perspective specifically to a problem I am working on or some news event I see.

So when I saw on the news this morning about Jill I immediately thought of "steadfastness." Many times during the last 3 months I have joined others in prayer for Jill. About a month ago I remember thinking, "Time has nothing to do with changing anything about who Jill is as a child of God or how safe she is in Her care. Her life is the same today as it was two months ago or even a year ago." And I also prayed for myself to be steadfast in affirming this about Jill's life.

The notion of "time" really turns things inside out and adds a negative dimension. When you eliminate time from working out problems, a lot of the stress goes away and you can think more in the present, in the NOW. Like, "She's been held captive for 3 months...its too long," or "I have been sick too long," or "I have been stuck in this job for too long."  How much better to focus on just the now, like "Right now God loves me and wants only good for me at this very moment." Then, being steadfast to just the present, just what you know is right now, can keep you in series of moments that are good, positive and uplifting. No time element, just now.

Some years ago I was working on a project that seemed to go on forever and wasn't productive. Every attempt made to close it out just didn't work and I was unhappy with the lack of progress. I got to thinking, "this has been going on for months just the same and all I can see is more months of this." I really got caught up in the time factor because that made it even worse. I was stuck.

So I prayed. I prayed to listen to whatever God wanted me to know at that moment. I pushed out all the unhappy, stressful thoughts and just listened. What came to me was Patience. But not patience IN time, Patience without any concept of time. Like, get rid of the time element and know that patience means waiting on God to move, adjust, reveal whatever needs to be moved, adjusted, revealed. In God's "time", not mine. And if it is in God's time, then there can be no suffering, no sacrifice, no loss of any kind.

One of my most influential spiritual authors, Mary Baker Eddy, writes a lot about patience. And usually includes it with the idea of unconditional love. So, patience with love is way more peaceful and uplifting than patience with time!

This totally released all the stress and unhappiness I was feeling about this project. Each day I listened for what new activity I could do, on this project or other projects. And new things came to me to do. I was active, productive and happy. Within a month or so, the project was closed out, to everyone's satisfaction.

Mario Tosto, who writes a blog called Godbert, wrote a poem that sums up very simply the joy of steadfastness and patient waiting with joy:

Praying with patience
is waiting without time,
Resting in the
Center
Of that which never changes,
For the change that
Must come.

Every day that is steadfast with unconditional love, living in the moment of love, is a wonderful day.

The Golden Rule at work works!

Craig Newmark, the majordomo of the very popular classifed website, craigslist, described his "secret sauce" to the site's success in an interview in Costco Connection, the magazine for Costco members. (With all the stuff Costco has, who knew they would have a magazine too??) Turns out Craig is a Costco member. And a basic values kind of guy too.

The site gets 6.5 million -- million -- posts per month and has recorded 700 hits per second. It is localized to 190 cities in 35 countries. And, not confirmed or denied by Craig, the site pulls in about $7-10 million a year. Yeah, sounds successful to me.

So of course, Costco readers must know, what is the key to Craig's success? In this high-tech, gizmos-on-steriods world, it is really refreshing to hear that Craig credits the site's popularity to one thing: the Golden Rule and the trust that comes from that.

"I'd like to be more cynical, but the Golden Rule really works. [The site] started off with the ethos that people generally share. Sometimes we have difficulty following through, but pretty much everyone believes in helping other people."

I love this. I've seen it work, too, in some hard-core situations as well.

A few years ago I was brought in as a consultant to help a company provide better customer service. Just like Craig, I've seen the best customer service results when companies really live by the Golden Rule. It's kinda simple, really, but boy the road is hard getting there. That's what I found at this one company...a very rocky road.

Turns out the biggest obstacle to delivering uniform quality customer service was serious conflict between the union and management: quality control, said management, was under their authority and the union felt this needed to be a part of the collective bargaining agreement.

Talk about bitter, the office cubicles were more like little "armed camps" where the missles were destructive emails -- and it all centered on the one department assigned to providing customer service. Everyone was unhappy: workers, union, management, customers.

I was so shocked at how cruel both sides could be that I was moved to tears. So I did what I always do when I am depressed: I prayed.

It wasn't a prayer of "What do I do now?" -- It was more like "How am I supposed to think about this??" See, I was pretty ticked at both parties, who had over several years dug pretty deeply into their positions, and as a result had victimized workers and treated customers poorly.

What inspired me in this situation was remembering the Golden Rule, and the man who best exemplified it with his teachings and his life, Jesus Christ. (As a side note, I love knowing that almost every faith tradition in the world includes a basic tenet like the Golden Rule...must be a Truth!). Jesus had lots of opportunities in his career to look for blame, but instead he loved everyone unconditionally, knowing each one had an unbreakable relationship to the universal Spirit. Because of this, he was able to heal any problem.

This told me what I needed to do. I figured that first I had to love all the parties involved unconditionally. The Spirit who loves all of us unconditionally would tell me what to do. And I did get some great ideas!

Here's one: Every time I heard someone criticize another individual, or I caught myself doing it in my own thoughts, I mentally checked myself. I thought instead, "How does Spirit or God see this person?" The answer was always some form of with unconditional, unfailing love. A good discipline, and it did take discipline. But pretty soon I started seeing positive contributions that individuals were making to the department.

Then I suggested workshops for both management and staff where we could discuss the basic principles of customer service and they could come up with ideas for applying these principles to their workplace. I was warned from the management side that I should be prepared for disruptive behavior. Well, I got prepared with prayer. (Hey, would that be "pre-prayered"?)

I resolved to live that Golden Rule, and see people the way I'd want them to see me. I would see only the children Spirit-God made: caring, truthful, creative, productive. And that is exactly who showed up at the workshops! The participants found their common ground, freely shared ideas, and willingly suggested new ways of working for the benefit of the customer. This was the beginning of some good changes in the department.

The best proof to me of the change in atmosphere occurred at one of the breaks. A small cluster of workers came up to me and said, "You're different from any of the other consultants who have tried to help us. We feel like you really love us."

Yeah, the Golden Rule at work really works!