The room of jewels
Seeing whole
Soul Factor is about switching on the lights so we can see all the value, purpose and priorities of work. In the marketplace room, the focus is often on one jewel – that we call money or shareholder value. But that’s not reality. When we switch on the lights, we see a world of treasures and of people with hearts minds and souls.
What is the single jewel that people tend to focus on gaining through their work?
Is it just money that matters or are there treasures to enjoy beyond a pile of cash?
JRR Tolkien spoke about a longing in our heart for restoration and reassurance that there is a happy ending. He talks of sudden and miraculous grace that rends the very web of our story and lets a gleam of light come through.
What work perspectives and practices close in our thinking and disconnect us from this ultimate story?
If we switch on the lights, what value, purposes and priorities do we have in our work that give meaning and motivation?
FURTHER THINKING
A superstition stands above a foundation. A ‘widerstition’ looks wider - how the world works AND why it works; what it’s made of AND what it’s made for.
Which is Christianity and why?
The talk makes a bold claim that we are all spiritual beings made on purpose for a purpose.
Do you believe that? What difference would it make to you?
Filling the room
The room is full of jewels because the Creator of the room filled it with value. The Bible begins with a description of how God works in the beginning to generate value and fill the room.
read genesis 1:1-2
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.’
In this passage three Hebrew words are used to depict the earth in its raw form before value is generated:
• tohu: which means formlessness, worthless waste, unreality
• bohu: which means emptiness, void, superficially
• choshek: which means darkness, ignorance, obscurity.
Read Genesis 1:1-26
How does God form what is formless, fill what is empty and light what is dark in the rest of his creation work?
What does this tell us about the necessity and value of work?
Read Genesis 1:27-28
How does God commission us to follow the same pattern of value generation?
What purpose does this give to our work?
How does your work follow these value generating processes that God works with and commissions us for?
Enjoying the jewels
There’s a growing recognition that thriving at work involves caring for the whole person: physical, emotional, and spiritual. One picture the Bible uses to describe human flourishing is of a tree planted by streams of living water.
read Psalm 1
What steps does the psalm describe on the path away from flourishing?
What are the distinctive life practices of someone who flourishes?
How does this apply to our workplace and help us see the ways we thrive as people?
What does it mean to care for the whole person at work - physical, emotional and spiritual?
What practical steps will enable us to thrive as physical, emotional and spiritual workers?