This post is a participation in the Patheos Book Club on Befriending Silence. It’s quite possible I heard the voice of Cistercians before I could walk; my mother was a devotee of the writings of Thomas Merton. From childhood I heard of the virtues of silence, perseverance, humility, and contemplation that Carl McColman describes in this book (and at his blog). And from that experience, I learned early that monks are not super-Christians, and the monastic calling is not one... Read more
Jeff Van Duzer grew up thinking business was the source of much damage and evil in the world, the work of greedy capitalists polluting the environment. Thirty years later he was dean of a business school. In the course of that remarkable transformation, Van Duzer discovered many business people achieving a great deal of good for society as well as a lot of illegal and unethical behavior. Along the way he found some who thought that merely being honest and... Read more
While this list originally came out this summer as “beach reads,” Inc. recently re-tweeted it. So they must think they’re also good choices for curling up next to the Christmas tree with a cup of hot cocoa (and maybe imagining you’re on the beach). The #1 book is below. Check out the rest at Inc. Can you think of faith angles on any of them? I can! Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh. Gates comments: “Based on Brosh’s wildly popular website,... Read more
A few weeks ago we pointed you towards a list of curriculum resources generated by the Oikonomia Network. Here are some helpful video and audio resources from their work, many suitable for use in churches: there are long videos, short videos, and lots of podcasts. (If you want to listen to something while you work out, why not try a faith and work podcast?) All feature “theologians, pastors, authors, and experts from across multiple traditions weighing in on a biblical... Read more
Want to know what the current best-selling business books are out there? Here’s the monthly list from the New York Times. Check back every month as it gets updated. You can click on book reviews and excerpts of the books where they exist, too. Image: Pixabay Read more
There are so many great new Advent devotionals, I can’t tell you about them all now — and, there are a number of equally wonderful, useful ones from other years about which I have to remind you. As a retailer, I just can’t bring myself to write about Christmas resources earlier in the fall — something in my bones still wants to resist consumerism and what Jamie Smith calls “secular liturgies” that press seasonal buying while the leaves are still... Read more
If you are at all involved in education around issues of faith and work (and involved in constructing syllabi, which is always a bear!), here’s a site you’ll want to bookmark: Oikonomia Network’s “Helpful Models” page: One of the main purposes of the advisory committee of the Oikonomia Network is to provide resources and support to all our network members, to help them develop pedagogical excellence. The first task has been to review syllabi, papers, videos, and other materials produced... Read more
Okay, I’m going to say this right up front. I know I get pretty enthused about a lot, and I promote books each week here that I say are fabulous. We get oodles of books in the store each week, and there are many I’d love to tell you about, some which I really, really like, even though I don’t get to write about them. I can only tell you about a select few, so I usually pick the very... Read more
Great excerpt over at Christianity Today from a new book by Sarah Bessey called Out of Sorts, arguing that “God-talk isn’t just for academia. It’s for laundry rooms, gyms, hospitals, and everywhere else.” She writes: John Wimber, one of the founders of the Vineyard church movement, used to say, “Everyone gets to play.” He meant that everyone gets to minister, everyone gets to hear from God, everyone has a part to play in this church and in this world, everyone gets... Read more
One of the things that the faith and work movement could use more writing about is blue-collar work. We ran a series about it on MISSION:WORK a while ago, and the blog Oikonomia on our channel posts about it from time to time (see here and here). We’ve been looking for books to recommend about it. Here’s a couple we’ve run into: Ironworking.com has a list on women in blue-collar trades. Mike Rose’s The Mind at Work argues for “the... Read more
Work Cited
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In