Community Post: The Art of Work</h1> <article> <h1>Community Post: The Art of Work</h1> <p>nnordenson — Wed, 30 May 2012 22:27:33 +0000</p> <p>The Russian art museum in <a href="http://justthinking.typepad.com/nordenson/" target="_blank">Nancy Nordenson</a>'s city is the only one of its kind in North America. She visits it often to understand the life and culture of Soviet Russia.</p> <p>On a recent trip, she discovered that beyond art and politics, the paintings in front of her spoke deeply of the role of work in the former Communist country. The collection as a whole showed "the movement from the idea of people as machines to people as human beings." Read the whole post <a href="http://justthinking.typepad.com/nordenson/2012/05/the-art-of-work.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> <p><i>Image by <a href="http://gregfallis.com/" target="_blank">Greg Fallis</a>. Used with <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/" target="_blank">permission</a>. Sourced via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsgreg/2515868335/">Flickr</a>. Post featured by <a href="http://www.charitysingleton.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Charity Singleton</a>.</i></p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-linkout"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> http://justthinking.typepad.com/nordenson/2012/05/the-art-of-work.html </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-author-name"> <div class="field-label">Author Name: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Nancy Nordenson </div> </div> </div><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=E1tL44XKCHc:jAQjiH3fRiY:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=E1tL44XKCHc:jAQjiH3fRiY:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Serving God in the Healthcare Profession: Four Reflections</h1> <p>Marcus Goodyear — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:29:55 +0000</p> <p>Our friends at The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation, and Culture just published a fantastic series of articles about <a href="http://www.washingtoninst.org/1898/healthcare-provision-and-the-discipline-of-listening/" target="_blank">serving God in the healthcare profession</a>. Four healthcare professionals reflect on what it means to listen in this profession. Web editor Jay Bilsborrow writes,</p> <p><em>How does a fallen world begin to heal? How do the shattered pieces get put back together to form a picture that is even more beautiful than it was to begin with? The answer: piece by piece. Those called of God take up their vocations.</em></p> <p><em>...This month we focus on the daily work of healthcare providers. Their work perhaps best exemplifies the importance of the practice of listening. We can be grateful for the thoughtful, skillful, and compassionate care doctors, nurses, and technicians provide daily to the broad spectrum of men, women, and children in need. Indeed, from a vocational perspective, having hands that bring healing and wholeness is tremendously honorable and redemptive work in God’s world.</em></p> <p>Read more about <a href="http://www.washingtoninst.org/1898/healthcare-provision-and-the-discipline-of-listening/" target="_blank">Healthcare Provision and the Discipline of Listening</a> or click through directly to the four vocational reflections from healthcare professionals:</p> <ul> <li> <a href="http://www.washingtoninst.org/1904/on-the-auscultation-of-the-heart/">On the Auscultation of the Heart</a> by Dr. Ryan Buchholz</li> <li> <a href="http://www.washingtoninst.org/1906/are-you-listening/">Are You Listening</a> by Dr. Curt Thompson</li> <li> <a href="http://www.washingtoninst.org/1902/listening-is-not-hearing/">Listening Is Not Hearing</a> by Eden Garber</li> <li> <a href="http://www.washingtoninst.org/1917/listening-in-medicine/">Listening in Medicine</a> by Dr. Larry Bergstrom</li> </ul> <p><em>Image by <a href="http://www.fluidr.com/photos/glouk/interesting" target="_blank">Eric Montfort</a>. Used with <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/" target="_blank">permission</a>. Sourced via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/44079102@N03/5044670146/" target="_blank">Flickr</a>.</em></p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-author-name"> <div class="field-label">Author Name: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Marcus Goodyear </div> </div> </div><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=DIpQuZMgxFc:HNW0C0D_Km8:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=DIpQuZMgxFc:HNW0C0D_Km8:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Community Post: It's Almost Summer. Are You Having Fun Yet?</h1> <p>bradleyjmoore — Tue, 22 May 2012 00:11:29 +0000</p> <p>Bradley J. Moore challenges us to have a little fun this summer. He <a href="http://shrinkingthecamel.com/2012/05/21/its-almost-summer-are-you-having-fun-yet/">writes at his blog</a>: "For some reason I had gotten into the bad habit of downplaying the lighter side of life, spending far too much time thinking about all of my responsibilities, my work, and the infinite number of chores and errands that must be done when I get home. If ever I tried to relax a bit, that abusive little voice in my head would tell me what a slacker I am." <a href="http://shrinkingthecamel.com/2012/05/21/its-almost-summer-are-you-having-fun-yet/">Read more here ...</a></p> <p> </p> <p>Image by <a href="http://www.katerina.nl/">Katerina Plevkova</a>. Used with <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">permission</a>. Sourced via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kat7677/3827372297...">Flickr</a>. Post by <a href="http://shrinkingthecamel.com/2012/05/21/its-almost-summer-are-you-having-fun-yet/">Bradley J. Moore</a>.</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-linkout"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> http://shrinkingthecamel.com/2012/05/21/its-almost-summer-are-you-having-fun-yet/ </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-author-name"> <div class="field-label">Author Name: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Bradley J. Moore </div> </div> </div><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=wzknb2WzKds:k82zVhrlao8:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=wzknb2WzKds:k82zVhrlao8:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>The Upside of Down</h1> <p>David Rupert — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:00:23 +0000</p> <p>Unemployed? Financially stressed? Those of us who live under the High Calling understand that not everything is as it seems. God has a plan. Are you looking for it?Pick up the newspaper, listen to the talk at any coffee shop, look at the faces in the crowd, and you'll know that times are tough. It seems that nearly every industry has taken a hit, dragging investments, housing and basic security into the dark pit of uncertainty. And the personal toll has been huge. We're scared. We all know people who have been laid off, fired or whose jobs have disappeared altogether. For millions, months have now turned into years of unemployment or under-employment. Maybe this is you.</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-author-name"> <div class="field-label">Author Name: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> David Rupert </div> </div> </div> <p><a href="http://www.thehighcalling.org/8819/the-upside-of-down" target="_blank">read more</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=2zdwPq4NMYQ:IFO1vpuGUvY:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=2zdwPq4NMYQ:IFO1vpuGUvY:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Community Post: Teaching Vocation at a Young Age</h1> <p>LDPeabody — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:46:19 +0000</p> <p><span lang="EN">Before you went into the work world, did you receive any biblical instruction on choosing a job? More instruction would have saved me a world of heartache and humiliation at doing a bad job at work and justifying it as a necessary evil for doing ‘God’s work’ off-hours. Read the entire post <a href="http://calledintowork.com/articles/article.asp?articleID=113">here.</a></span></p> <p><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><em>Image by <a href="http://www.katerina.nl/">Katerina Plevkova</a>. Used with<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/"> permission</a>. Sourced via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kat7677/3827372297/in/photostream/">Flikr.</a> Post by Newsletter Editor <a href="http://www.redletterbelievers.com/">David Rupert</a>. </em></span></span></p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-linkout"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> http://calledintowork.com/articles/article.asp?articleID=113 </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-author-name"> <div class="field-label">Author Name: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Larry Peabody </div> </div> </div><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=c0-9do-YEyo:QExcxXNLToY:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=c0-9do-YEyo:QExcxXNLToY:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>A Lawyer Finds Ways to Honor God at Work</h1> <p>David Rupert — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:32:49 +0000</p> <p><a href="http://www.quietedwaters.com/about-quieted-waters/">Josh</a> is a High Calling network blogger who writes regularly over at <a href="http://www.quietedwaters.com/">Quieted Waters</a>. His public legal work keeps his identity hidden, but his heart is fully exposed in his thoughtful posts. He is young in age, but wise in his words as he writes about what it means for young professionals to be faithful Christians.</p> <p>He recently posted a series called, <a href="http://www.quietedwaters.com/9-ways-to-honor-god-at-work/">Nine Ways to Honor God at Work</a>. There are excellent posts including the admonition to <a href="http://www.quietedwaters.com/work-diligently-to-honor-god-at-work">work diligently</a>, to stop <a href="http://www.quietedwaters.com/stop-stealing-from-your-boss/">workplace theft</a> of time and resources, and to <a href="http://www.quietedwaters.com/serve-your-coworkers/">serve</a> your coworkers.</p> <p>Read the whole series <a href="http://www.quietedwaters.com/9-ways-to-honor-god-at-work/">here</a> and cheer on this young lawyer in a challenging workplace</p> <p><em>Image by <a href="http://www.paulgoyettephotography.com/">Paul Goyette</a>. Used with <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">permission</a>. Sourced via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/85732581@N00/2620249510/">Flickr.</a> </em></p> <p><em>Post by Newsletter Editor <a href="http://www.redletterbelievers.com/">David Rupert</a></em></p> <p> </p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-author-name"> <div class="field-label">Author Name: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> David Rupert </div> </div> </div><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=gypqfHgfNc0:oQEK4roxWfI:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=gypqfHgfNc0:oQEK4roxWfI:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Two Easy Ways a Pastor Can Encourage People That All Work Matters</h1> <p>Marcus Goodyear — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:46:58 +0000</p> <p>Two weeks ago, I went running with my pastor during lunch. You can do that in a small town. Somewhere around our second mile, we got to talking about Facebook and marketing segmentation and some of the boring details of my job that get me excited and make other people fall asleep.</p> <p>My pastor listened attentively and encouraged me in my work. He asked questions. He offered some thoughts about his experiences with social media and what they might mean for the church. It was a good conversation because we both valued each other's knowledge. Not once did my pastor imply that my life would have more meaning if I had been called to serve God as a pastor or a missionary.</p> <p>Thankfully, my pastor and my church understand that all good work matters to God. In some ways, I'm practically a pastor myself, working on a Christian website, talking about God all day. But I represent people in business and medicine and law and any number of secular jobs. Like many of them, I have attended churches where I was taught that my work didn't matter.</p> <p>"It's all going to burn anyway," one of these pastors told me just a few years ago. Most pastors aren't so dismissive and condescending about work, they just don't know where to start. So instead, they preach the Bible admirably, connecting it to areas of life that the members of their congregation have in common--family, church, culture, community.</p> <p>This afternoon, my friend <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/carltonbob" target="_blank">Bob Carlton</a> forwarded this link from a new <a href="http://www.faithandleadership.com/content/richard-j-mouw-congregants-long-for-pastors-understand-their-work-lives" target="_blank">article on faith and work by Richard Mouw</a>. Mouw writes,</p> <blockquote><p>"My pastor has no idea of the kind of world I live in six days a week.” That came from a prominent businessperson, a venture capitalist, during a lunch we had together when I visited the city where he works.</p> <p>And even though that particular comment was clearly a complaint, it was expressed in a larger context in which he was speaking quite warmly about his involvement in the local church.</p> <p>His congregation has good programs for his children, and he and his wife are involved in a small group they find spiritually nurturing. His pastor preaches good, biblically based sermons. All of that is very positive in his mind. What is missing, though, is any sort of connection to his actual daily work experience.</p> </blockquote> <p>Mouw goes on to offer two easy solutions for pastors. First, they can visit members of their congregation during the work day at their places of work, perhaps as part of a lunch meeting with the church member. Second, they can publicly pray during church for people who work in business, education, entertainment, web design, medicine, or other jobs that are important in the economic environment of the church's community.</p> <p>This article speaks to our core purpose here at The High Calling. For over a decade, we have been encouraging people in their work that God cares about everything we do. We have encouraging articles, <a href="http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflections" target="_blank">daily reflections</a>, <a href="http://www.thehighcalling.org/audio">audio messages</a>, informative and <a href="http://www.thehighcalling.org/video">inspirational videos</a>, and a strong, supportive community.</p> <p>More recently, we began to reach out to churches directly, hoping to empower leaders with tools that will help them meet this need in their local congregation. We offer three new <a href="http://www.thehighcalling.org/content/sermon_notes_order.htm" target="_blank">sermon outlines on faith and work</a> every quarter. We are developing new small group curriculum with the <a href="http://centerforfaithandwork.com/about" target="_blank">Center for Faith & Work at LeTourneau University</a>. And we are doing our best to help churches address the issue on <a href="http://www.thehighcalling.org/faith/what-your-church-doing-labor-day-sunday">Labor Day Sunday</a>. We are even offering webinars to pastors to make the process as easy as possible for them. At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, did I mention that we do all of this for free?</p> <p>I apologize if I sound like I'm being pushy here. But I really believe in what we are doing here and the resources we are working on to help people integrate their faith and work.</p> <p>The internet makes it hard for us to know what people find helpful. We have all sorts of metrics and numbers, but those numbers don't tell us the personal stories of transformation that happen in the heart of a reader.</p> <p><strong>Have you been touched by The High Calling? Tell us about it in the comments. </strong>Your message will encourage us, but it will also help us know how to serve you better in the future.</p> <p> </p> <p><em>Image by <a href="http://www.daskar.nl/" target="_blank">H.J. Wesselink</a>. Used with <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/" target="_blank">permission</a>. Sourced via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73496146@N00/55683029/" target="_blank">Flickr</a>. Post by Marcus Goodyear, Senior Editor of The High Calling.</em></p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-author-name"> <div class="field-label">Author Name: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Marcus Goodyear </div> </div> </div><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=cfjwU590BmM:otoNpwsYxa4:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=cfjwU590BmM:otoNpwsYxa4:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Community Post: Friends in the Workplace</h1> <p>mderusha — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:52:26 +0000</p> <p>Do you have a best friend at work? Michelle DeRusha, a member of The High Calling community, tells us how having a close friend at work helped her productivity. She writes: "I swear we raised our kids together in those ten-minute bursts of conversation a day. All the joys and frustrations and fears, the euphoric highs and the cataclysmic lows that go hand-in-hand with parenting, and life, really, were exchanged within a 12-foot-by-12-foot office. ... I see now how we grounded each other; how we were each other’s life preserver in a wildly tossing sea."</p> <p> <a href="http://www.michellederusha.com/2012/05/item-10.html">Read more here ...</a></p> <p> </p> <p>Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jzsinr/">Jaskirat Singh Bawa.</a> Used with <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">permission</a>. Sourced via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/58419684@N00/44018...">Flickr</a>. Post by <a href="http://www.michellederusha.com/2012/05/item-10.html">Michelle DeRusha.</a></p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-linkout"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> http://www.michellederusha.com/2012/05/item-10.html </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-author-name"> <div class="field-label">Author Name: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Michelle DeRusha </div> </div> </div><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=dZMZEAnyfHg:dWinc-V9rfc:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=dZMZEAnyfHg:dWinc-V9rfc:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Naked Tennis Ball Follow-Up</h1> <p>Laity Lodge Pilgrim — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:18:28 +0000</p> <p>The Laity Lodge Pilgrim is going back to Laity Lodge to find the naked tennis ball he wrote about a few weeks ago. He has asked us for suggestions about what to do with it if he finds it again.</p> <p>Image by <a href="http://www.grantharder.com/" target="_blank">Grant Harder</a>. Used with <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/" target="_blank">permission</a>. Sourced via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/45219804@N00/4676327639/" target="_blank">Flickr</a>.</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-linkout"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> http://www.laitylodge.org/pilgrim-posts/naked-tennis-ball-follow-up-8012/ </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-author-name"> <div class="field-label">Author Name: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Laity Lodge Pilgrim </div> </div> </div><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=cX0wFsv0NdY:JQghDKgnJPc:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=cX0wFsv0NdY:JQghDKgnJPc:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>What Do People Value in a Career? Love or Money?</h1> <p>David Rupert — Sun, 06 May 2012 06:00:04 +0000</p> <p>The New York Times <a href="http://tp://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/us/12intro.html" target="_blank">studied</a> key words in commencement speeches last year and found the words "love" and "world" showed up far more often than "money" and "success." Does this mean there's a shift in what people value most in their careers? Read the article<a href="http://tp://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/us/12intro.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.</p> <p><em>Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/limonada">Emilie Eagan</a>, Used with <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">permission</a>. Sourced via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/44124412272@N01/205722516/">Flickr</a>. Newsletter Editor <a href="http://www.redletterbelievers.com/">David Rupert</a></em></p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-linkout"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/us/12intro.html </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-author-name"> <div class="field-label">Author Name: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> David Rupert </div> </div> </div><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=OTrptNZjvGw:7rz0LnbeGtU:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/highcallingblogsfeatured?a=OTrptNZjvGw:7rz0LnbeGtU:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> </div> </article> </main></body></html>