The Reinvention of Work :The Reinvention of Work :
A New Vision of Livelihood for Our Time
by Matthew Fox
342 pages
Published by Harper San Francisco
Publication date: May 1, 1995
ISBN: 0060630620
Synopsis:
How many of us can really say that our work life is in balance with our
personal life - that our values and desires are reflected in our daily vocation,
that our personal life and professional life are integrated, or that we
find satisfaction, not a crushing defeat of the spirit, in our workday existence?
According to most polls and reports, very few of us do. Controversial author
and radical priest Matthew Fox shares his thoughts on one of the focal points
of our lives - work. He urges us to overcome our feelings of isolation,
insecurity, and alienation in our work lives and to embrace a vision of
the world where the self is not sacrificed for a job, but is sanctified
by authentic "soul work." He envisions a world where intellect,
heart, and health come together in a harmony of essential life experiences
that celebrates the whole person. Fox shatters industrial-age models of
work by applying the principles of the new cosmology, calling on the prophetic
voices from an array of professions - people who are asking critical questions
about the way they work. Drawing on the rich legacy of great mystical teachings
- from Hildegard of Bingen to Thomas Aquinas, Meister Eckhart, and the Bhagavad
Gita - Fox proposes as a foundation for true work a spirituality rooted
in the interconnectedness of all things. Like Thomas Aquinas before him,
Matthew Fox believes that "to live well is to work well" and sets
out to reconnect the postindustrial world to the Great Work of the universe.
He addresses our unemployment crisis and our work crisis with a whole new
model of livelihood for our time.