Author: Janae Bower

Oprah spent her last farewell show on May 25^th sharing what she knows for sure from doing the more than 4,500 shows for the past 25 years. She considered the show and her viewers as “her great love” and this finale show, sharing with us her words of advice and encouragement, as her “love letter” to all of us.

Here’s what resonated with me and my summary from what she taught us. Whether you saw the show or not, or whether you like Oprah or not; she shared some important spiritual messages that we can all reflect on.

Worthiness

Oprah said that the common thread she saw in the shows and her viewers is the feeling of unworthiness. “You are worthy because you were born.” We often times block the blessings in our lives because we don’t feel worthy enough.

Energy

All life is energy. We are energy, like radio transmitters putting out energy to the world. You are responsible for your own energy and the energy that you bring to others. Know that every action to you “put out there” will have an equal and opposite reaction that comes back to you. She encouraged us to find the “love energy inside of ourselves.”

Calling

As she was called to do this show, she encouraged all of us that we have a calling too. Our real job is to figure out what that calling is and get to work doing it. Your calling is something you are meant to do and should give you the” joy and the juice” to do it. As you live from the heart of yourself, your calling will light you up. Live your calling in your own way, so you too can “illuminate the world.”

Service

We are all called to serve. We receive in direction proportion to how much we give. It’s been the greatest gift for her to serve us with this show for the past 25 years and she called us to action. “Don’t waste another moment to use your life to serve the world.”

God

When asked about what is the secret to her success Oprah replied, “My team and Jesus. Nothing but the hand of God made this possible.” There are no coincidences in life, only divine order. She said how all of her life she has felt the presence of God and that this presence is always working in our lives. She explained that it’s “closer than your breath and comes to you like a whisper.” Waiting and listening for this guidance is how she operated and how she was able to do this show for 25 years. Questions for us to consider: What are your whispers? Will you hear them?

Gratitude

She ended the show with messages on gratitude. “Gratitude is the single greatest treasure I’ll take from this experience.” It was a privilege for her to share “this yellow brick road of blessings” with us and she would offer a prayer of gratitude before each show.

In conclusion, Oprah said something like this a couple of times that is a wonderful question for all of us to ponder on. “Our life is always speaking to us, how will we then let our lives speak for us?”

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most. She started Project GratOtude, a movement to increase gratitude in people’s lives.

It has been the interruptions of everyday life which have most revealed the divine mystery of which I am a part, all these interruptions presented themselves as opportunities to go beyond the normal patterns of daily life and find deeper connections than the previous safety of my physical, emotional and spiritual well being.

– Henri Nouwen

Isn’t it true that in the ordinary day we have the opportunity to look deeper into our experiences or interruptions to look beyond what is ordinary and discover the extraordinary, spiritual connection. This is what happened for me with learning about the author of the quote. At the beginning of the week, I asked God to reveal to me who I should feature for N. I was reading the book The Power of Pause and the above quote caught my attention. Not only because of its meaningfulness, but because the author’s last name began with an N.

At that moment, I took that interruption to seek more about Henri Nouwen. I know that I’ve read other spiritual quotes from him, but I didn’t know much about who is and what he believes. Now I do and I realize how learning more from his writings will help me grow deeper into my quest of spiritual wellness in all areas of my life.

Who is he?

Nouwen ranks as one of the most significant spiritual leaders of our time. Nouwen was a priest, academic, psychologist, teacher, author, gifted public speaker, spiritual member, faithful correspondent and friend, wounded healer and a passionate seeker. With an uncanny ease he moved in and out of these different roles, never allowing himself to be fully contained or categorized. In so doing he showed, and continues to show, a generation of seekers how one’s gifts are to be placed at the service of those whom God places in our path.

There is society dedicated to sharing his teachings: The purpose of the Henri Nouwen Society is to foster the spirituality of solitude, community and compassion that was embodied in the life and teaching of Henri Nouwen. (What I’m sharing about him comes from their website.)

Henri Nouwen was a spiritual thinker, a synthesist and one of the first in our time, along with Thomas Merton, to consciously develop a “theology of the heart.” Henri had an unusual capacity to write about the life of Jesus and the love of God in ways that have inspired countless people to trust God more fully.

What did he believe?

Nouwen believed that what is most personal is most universal; he wrote, “By giving words to these intimate experiences I can make my life available to others.” The model he gives us is for building the kinds of relationships and communities that will allow each person to find his or her personal mission. He dedicated his life to the spiritual values of communion, community and ministry.

What is his impact?

The internationally renowned priest and author, respected professor and beloved pastor Henri Nouwen wrote over 40 books on the spiritual life. Since his death in 1996, ever-increasing numbers of readers, writers, teachers and seekers have been guided by his literary legacy. Nouwen’s books have sold over 2 million copies and been published in over 22 languages. He is often referred to as “the spiritual writer who most influenced our generation.”

What interruptions in your life have led you to deeper spiritual growth? We would love to hear from you by sharing your comments below.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Living purposefully is what I think of when I think of our next feature, David McNalley. He encourages leaders and individuals in his business and books to discover their brands and live purposefully. TransForm, a company founded by David McNalley, knows only purposeful individual and leaders build inspired organizations and iconic brands. He has many books and products that support the message of encouragement.

One book in which I was blessed to have a story published in, Even Eagle’s Need a Push, is full of encouraging stories to help all of us live aligned lives reaching our highest potential. At times we all need a push in our lives to help either get us on track, get us moving, get us soaring or even get us going in the right direction. Click on the banner below to see a short inspirational movie called The Push based on the book.

This message in his blog a few weeks back on living boldly speaks highly to his passion to help all of us soar in our lives.

My Third Lesson – Live Boldly

I’m compelled to add a p.s. to one of the people I highlighted earlier, Immaculee Illibagiza. (If you haven’t read that one yet, please do for more context on her. Click here.)A few weeks ago I had the privilege of learning from and meeting her when I went on a retreat in MN. She is one of the most holiest and spiritual people I’ve met and was deeply touched by her presence. EVERYONE at the retreat felt the same way. Even world renown authors, like Wayne Dwyer, feels the same way. Here’s what he had to say about Immaculee in the forward of her first book Left to Tell.

“Immaculee not only writes about unconditional love and forgiveness, but she radiates it wherever she goes. She lives at an elevated level of spiritual consciousness, and by doing so, she raises the energy level of all those whom she encounters…including myself. The very first moment we met, I knew in an absolute flash of insight that I was in the presence of a uniquely Divine woman. In those few moments, I was captured.”

He goes on to share how he sought her out and did everything he could to make sure her book was published and promoted because he knew that the world needed to meet and learn from Immaculee. I feel so incredibly grateful that I am one of those people who have been graced by her holiness.

I wrote extensively about this experience called A Mini Pilgrimage with Massive Love and if any of you are interested in finding out more about it, please just contact me via email janae@findingit.com and I’ll be happy to share more with you about this spiritual journey. For now I’ll share with you a few excerpts from it.

Had my first experience of going on a pilgrimage, which I would categorize as one of the holiest experiences in my life (so far). Instead of flying to a far away land to visit the holy one, I traveled by car with my best friend, Julie, to a small town in Minnesota, Worthington. It took me 5½ hours to finally get to our destination, but it was worth it as we both understood more of our destiny. Here’s what happened and how it touched my life.

Teaching insights from Immaculee

• She asked God for signs and he gave it to her many times in the bathroom. She asked us if we ask God for enough signs in our lives.

• Genuine, sincere prayer from the heart has immense power for God to change our lives. She really started to ask God to help her understand the words of the prayers that she was praying and became so reverent with her prayers.

• “Pray and you’ll be touched in a way you understand it. The solution is hidden in prayer.” Immaculee demonstrated this with her next couple of stories about the power of prayer. One day she came face to face with a man from the other tribe who had killed many of her tribe after she was released from hiding. They both had weapons; him a machete and her faith. With a rosary clutched in her hand and unshakeable faith in her heart she prayed with all her might, calling on the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to rid the evil within this man. Miraculously it happened.

• Gratitude, despite finding out that most of her family was killed, is what she thought of when she first emerged from hiding. “Something told her heart to be grateful.” To be grateful for the cool breeze, no longer in hiding, etc…

• Immaculee stressed the importance how everything in our lives is a gift to God. She asked us to consider what the relationship of God is in our heart. Every blessing that God gives you is available to you if you just ask.

Meeting Immaculee

Right now it was my will to go and personally meet Immaculee, the holiest person I’ve ever met in my life. Julie didn’t want to say anything and offered to go as my support. We went to a hallway in the church rectory waiting for our turn to meet up with Immaculee. As we waited, I prayed and asked God to guide our conversation. It was known that we all (5 of the nearly 300 who attended) would only have about 3, maybe 5 minutes with her and needed to respect that. As I stood there, it reminded me of the prime time special Beyond Belief that I had seen a few days before I left. It was about the Blessed Virgin Mother Mary and how people all over the world revered her and adored her. One part of the special was about a healer who they showed taking one woman among the thousands in a special room for healing. This is how I felt, one of the ones called to personally see and meet a holy one. I knew it was an once-in-a-lifetime honor.

We walked into a room as Immaculee sat on a chair. I sat next to her on the chair with Julie on the couch across from us. The first thing she said is that she loved my shirt (I knew it) and we hugged. She exuded such a loving presence that made me feel completely comfortable being with her. With my hands snuggled inside of her hands, we shared an intimate conversation about the letter I had written to her.

She has a deep love for the Blessed Mother Virgin Mary and the rosary, a means of praying to her. Our conversation ended with being blessed by Immaculee.

Before we left, even though they were knocking on the door for us to leave for the next person to see her, Immaculee embraced us in a hug and asked if the three of us could say a Hail Mary prayer together. The prayer seared our souls and we knew that we had been blessed greatly by the love of Mary through Immaculee’s love of her.

Trying to gain composure after we left, we went into a bathroom feeling overwhelmed with what we had experienced. Julie made the connection that we were in a bathroom that was about the size that Immaculee spent 91 days in. Now we were in a bathroom just after seeing her and feeling the hand of God touching us so lovingly through her. A bathroom experience we’ll never forget and a fun one to tell my boys (as this is where I send them if they have potty talk).

In her newest book Lady of Kibeho, she shared how her dad named her last name to be Illibagiza in Mary’s honor of blessing them with a healthy girl, which means “shining and beautiful in body and soul.” Immaculee was named for the blessed Mother’s immaculate heart. Julie and I kept commenting all weekend how beautiful she is and how her heart and soul illuminates pure love and light. We personally felt her shining soul and love with this meeting.

Again, if you are intrigued with my experience, just let me know by emailing me janae@findingit.com and I’ll share more with you.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most. She started Project GratOtude, a movement to increase gratitude in people’s lives.

Few would deny that one of the greatest spiritual leaders of our time is the beloved late Mother Teresa. She is a soul who wholly dedicated to live a life of service through expressing her heart of love. She is known to the world for her selfless work with the “poorest of the poor” in Calcutta, India. Her order, the Missionaries of Charity, have opened more than 500 centers around the world to help the dying and destitute. She is the recipient of many of the world’s most prestigious humanitarian awards like the Nobel Peace Prize.

I’ve always been inspired by her profound words of wisdom. I’ll include three of my favorites for your reflection and how they impact your spiritual growth as they have mine.

For in the silence of the heart, God speaks.

We need to open the eyes of our hearts so we can see, hear and feel God’s love and guidance for our lives. Yet when our minds are troubled and our hearts are broken we have a difficult time finding the adored silence we all crave deep within us. Mother Teresa did her work silently throughout the world. She led with her heart and let her love of God speak for what she stood for. It is in her silent heart blessings that the world showered her with accolades of praise.

I am God’s pencil.

She shared this thought as a way to look at her life was all about serving God and Jesus. I too have asked God to use me as his pencil. So when I’ve written something that sounds like it was written exactly for you to read, know that it was!! God intended for me to write this so you could read it when you were ready and when your heart was open. This is the same for me. I’m a writer and I’ve written many things in my life. Some have been good and some have been God. I can always tell the difference in how it flows and how easily it goes. It’s amazing how this can happen. When I’ve asked to be God’s pencil and to guide my words, the words are more profound and meaningful. When I try to write things on my own is when the words don’t always sound impactful or come to me as naturally. However, when God uses me to write the message he wants to get across I just go with it. I often realize the difference is when my keys are just flying off the keyboard or when my hand just writes automatically nonstop. It’s like I’m letting the flow of the Holy Spirit comes to me and then out through me.

May God give back to you in love all the love you have given and all the joy and peace you have sown around you, all over the world.

We all know that we reap what we sow in our lives. When Mother Teresa put it in terms of love and joy, it sure makes me want to spread as much as possible. How about you?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most. She started Project GratOtude, a movement to increase gratitude in people’s lives.

I just finished reading the book Love For No Reason: 7 Steps to Creating a Life of Unconditional Love by Marci Shimoff. She interviewed 100 amazing people she referred to as Love Luminaries. These are people who are the “leading lights or love celebrities” who are living love in the world. So many of their stories in this book inspired me, so I thought that I would select this stellar group of people as a whole to highlight for L because they are living their lives and integrating their spirituality in all parts of it.

So many religious traditions point to love as the highest path of life. Not just any kind of love, but unconditional love to all. We all know how incredible we feel when we choose the path of love in our lives whether at work, home or in the community at large. However, sometimes love isn’t always the easiest path to choose, especially when you are dealing with difficult situations – the demanding boss, the ungrateful spouse, the demanding child, the forgetful friend, the negative family member, etc… However it is when we choose love and put love to work is when we illuminate the way with our light.

There were many memorable examples of these Love Luminaries in her book, which I highly recommend, I’ll just share with you my favorite, Johnny Barnes. Johnny is an elderly man in Bermuda who doesn’t have a website, business or book (unlike most of the ones she interviewed), but he does have a BIG heart, great humility and a strong purpose.

For almost 30 years he spent “a quarter of his waking hours” spreading love on a busy street corner in Hamilton, Bermuda. I don’t know about you, but I’ve only experienced people on the streets either begging or performing for money. Not Johnny. His sole and soul purpose is to greet people through waves, greetings, shakes, hugs – spreading love to all who cross his way. He doesn’t get paid for this, but we all know that he’ll get paid for the love he spread in eternity.

According to Johnny, “You see, I love people, and I love telling them that I love them. I consider it my personal mission in life to spread joy and love whenever, wherever and however I can.”

He started doing this when we was working fulltime, showing up ½ hour before his job for 30 years. Then he started to do this “street corner of love” fulltime as his retirement five days a week. He says that God gives us all something to do, “That’s six hours of spreading love every morning. I can’t think of a better way to spend my time.”

I was so moved that this is how he is choosing to spend his 27 years in retirement so far – spreading love when many choose to not work at all. He didn’t retire to a warm place (already lives in one) so he could have more leisure time. He choose to retire not with a more selfish-type of leisure lifestyle that many people believe they deserve when they retire (and do) to living a life of selfless love and service.

The city put a statue of him in his honor on the street corner so his love continues to spread to all when he’s not around. That’s a long-standing, golden type of love that I aspire to! I’ll close with the closing words of Johnny in his story.

“The way I see it, this world was made for love. When the good Lord wakes me up mornings, puts a song in my heart, joy in my soul, and a smile on my face, I just have to give it away!”

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most. She started Project GratOtude, a movement to increase gratitude in people’s lives.

I just had to share with you both of these incredible people for K. All along I was planning to highlight Cynthia Kersey and then I just listened to a webcast with Ken Blanchard and am so inspired by the way that he lives out his spirituality that I thought why don’t share about both of them. Both of these amazing people put their love in action as they serve others through their work.

Work is love made visible. – Kahlil Gibran

Ken Blanchard

Ken Blanchard is the cofounder and chief spiritual officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, an international management training and consulting firm. He is also the cofounder of the Center for FaithWalk Leadership.

Being in the training and development industry, I was first introduced to Ken’s work by getting certified to teach one of his programs called Situational Leadership. Ever since then Ken’s been a mentor for me in how to live out my spirituality at work. I love that even his work title is being the chief spiritual officer for his organization. His philosophy, from the perspective that I know about him through reading his books, listening to presentations of his and attending workshops, is that Ken is passionate about spreading servant leadership. A way of leading and being that is “not all about us” but is all about how you can serve others to really make a difference for them.

I feel like he’s done that for me just from afar by living his life this way. His influence continues to spread to others as well. He recently partnered with Colleen Barrett, the president emeritus of Southwest Airlines, to write the book Lead with LUV: A Different Way to Create Real Success. It’s a great example of a company that puts love in action through creating a culture in which people are inspired to be who they are and share that love with their employees, customers and shareholders. In an earlier blog, I wrote about Southwest as a model example of an organization embracing spirituality in the workplace.

One way Ken does this at his company is that he sends out a daily inspirational message to his 300 plus employees. When asked if he had only one practice that he could do that would matter the most, he said it would be to “wander around and catch people doing things right.” This is the concept he introduced in his best-selling One Minute Manager book. His work is impactful, his message is inspirational and his contribution to spirituality at work is invaluable.

Cynthia Kersey

Cynthia Kersey is unstoppable. What I admire most about her is that she has an unstoppable heart that keeps on giving. She quit her high-paying corporate job to write the book called Unstoppable and to form her business around this same concept. Now she recently shifted her focus to be on living an unstoppable live by her vision of wanting all children on the planet to receive an education. Thus, she is putting all her time and energy into her Unstoppable foundation to build schools for children in Africa.

I’ve heard her speak multiple times on recorded presentations. She shares how she’s able to keep going with her unstoppable work is that she first has a practice of giving to herself each morning to connect with her mind, body and spirit. When she fills herself up, that when she is able to fill up others as well through her work. In regards to finding her calling she said, “When you are called, the miracles come when you fully jump on board.”

A few months back I participated in her “give a little, get a lot” program in which she sold educational online programs from some of the top personal and professional development gurus to people like me. They donated their programs, she sold them at a reasonable cost and then used the money raised $270,000 to build the schools. I felt great being part of her program and look forward to the many ways that I’ll learn from her on how to be unstoppable with my giving and putting my spirituality to work.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most. She started Project GratOtude, a movement to increase gratitude in people’s lives.

Spiritual Deepening in Life and Work

Janae: Janet, thanks for joining me to talk about spiritual deepening in life and work. As you know, you’ve been one of my mentors who has inspired me to deepen my spiritual evolution. I know you are passionate about this and I’ll be interested in hearing more about your perspective. I remember when I first met you. I had asked you to come to speak on Spirituality and Work at Custom Research, the company I was working for in the early nineties.

Janet: Janae, thanks for inviting me to dialogue with you. I’m so pleased to help your readers explore this topic, Spiritual Deepening in Life and Work. My most vivid memory of my work at Custom Research was asking the group a question to get us started, “Have you ever had a spiritual experience at work?” and spending the next hour hearing all those amazing stories. I was so moved hearing people tell stories about being kind on purpose, praying for clients, sensing a power beyond them in their creative work etc. In my recollection we all left longing for more time and more conversation because of the spiritual energy that was underneath the surface of most people’s lives. It inspired me.

Janae: And since then you’ve gradually come to dedicate much of your time to spiritual deepening in life and work, right? What forms has this spiritual deepening taken for you in the last several years?

Janet: As a summary, I’d say that I now experience life as an amateur Anchoress, which means a grounded presence in the world. As a direct result of what’s happened in my own life experience I’ve developed classes and products that feed and open the hearts of people who are longing for more meaning and spiritual intimacy. I could just list some things that I’ve developed but I think it would be more interesting to tell my story of how these things evolved from my own struggles and from a call to surrender my life and work in favor of a smaller, simpler and more peaceful way to live.

Janae: I’d like to hear more of your story too, so where do we begin?

Janet: One example of my initiation into the deepening way of life was to co-author the book, The Critical Journey. This book described the stages in the life of faith and it included the Wall, which is the place where we release our old way of life, heal spiritually and psychologically and move beyond our ego. That book and the fact that I had begun spiritual direction in my own life, furthered my journey into spiritual deepening personally and professionally. Then fast- forward several years, into the early years of the new century: I met the Wall squarely in my own life and it has never been the same since.

Janae: I had, by that time, joined your Real Power Network and was able to see some of that transformation myself. It’s been powerful to watch you over these last ten years. What was most memorable and what ways has it changed you?

Janet: What was most memorable was that, as I was coming through the Wall myself, I couldn’t work in the same way I had before. I was a high achiever and was not only running my own business of speaking and writing but I was also the executive director of a national non-profit. Almost overnight I couldn’t sustain that life style any more. I was very anxious and I got nosebleeds when I spoke in public. Clearly my body did not want to work that way any more. But I was newly single and felt a lot of pressure to keep up that pace. I “knew” that this anxiety was a spiritual call for me and that my life had become disordered and needed to change. So I started letting it change, started letting go, and holding onto all things more lightly. I spoke of this change in a video recently in case anyone wants to hear me describe it live. It can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0bmPd-CZjM

Janae: I think that was during the time we were doing the training certification for the Real Power Network, right?

Janet: That’s right. I was being certified along with six others in our network (in a process you helped design, thanks! Picture of us with certification.) and I chose as my culminating project an art book depicting Beauty as Thin Place, a place where the holy breaks through and we get a glimpse of something beyond us. I chose twenty personal examples of thin places in my life. So, for example, I depicted the beauty of forgiveness, the beauty of the fire, the beauty of self worth, the beauty of inner storms, the beauty of relinquishing as well as the beauty of the double play in baseball. 🙂 It was an amazing project and it opened the door to more creativity that had been hiding inside of me, unable to surface until my spirituality caused my life change. I started moving from making it happen to letting it happen. That made all the difference. I trusted the Holy more and started allowing for a different scenario for my future. Several others in the network were like angels to me during that time, encouraging me to take this road less traveled.

Janae: And that kind of opened the floodgates as I recall. How did it all happen from that point on?

Janet: The first step, as I recall, was the gift of poems. I wrote about fifteen poems in one summer and they just fell into my lap. I’d never experienced that kind of creative energy even though I’d written books. These poems were different for me; simple, straight forward, and honest. One of my favorites was just four lines long. It’s called “That’s All I’ve Got to Say” and it goes like this:

I created you

now let me love you

that’s all I’ve got to say

would you like me to repeat that.

I wrote poems about how we don’t let ourselves feel God’s love, about how addictions are a way of looking for God, and about the inevitability of pain as a way to break our hearts open. These poems just arrived, as friends from home.

Janae: Yes, I remember those. My favorite was the one in which you and God had a conversation about whether you would go into the scary places or not. God was willing to let you have your way, by not facing your fear. Alas, you discovered it didn’t work. And I know you put those poems into a small booklet to share on your web site www.janethagberg.com.

Janet: That poem you mentioned was called “God Smiles.” I love that one. And yes, I was starting to share these gifts with others through my web site. The next thing that emerged was a whole new art form for me, emerging from my Beauty project. I love beautiful paper so for my birthday one year I went to an art store and bought several sheets of exquisite paper. When I brought it home it took the form of poignant depictions of the ways we rest in God, all different images on black paper backgrounds. I see these as contemporary icons, an art form that draws you into its story and then points you towards God. I made fifteen of them in the next several months. A few examples are: Resting in God…In the middle of a storm, in the potter’s hands, under the protection of God’s tent and in the presence of our enemies. Other products emerged at about that same time, like a small set of sixty-four specially chosen scripture cards about the inner life wrapped in a little purple bag. They were remarkably pertinent whenever I drew one to find out what God was saying to me that day or in certain situations.

Now I can imagine that some readers are nodding off to sleep so it’s OK with me if anyone wants to tune out about now. But there is more…

Janae: Yes, as I recall some of the most interesting things are yet to come. You started getting much more involved with people on the margins of our society at that point, as I recall?

Janet: You are spot on. I had gotten involved with an inner city multi-racial church and an organization that encouraged suburban people to get personally involved with marginalized people. I taught classes in which people from these two worlds became mutual friends and we also took them on inner city pilgrimages. It was utterly amazing to see the spiritual transformation that occurred when people who thought they were so different actually found out they weren’t that different and in fact could learn from one another. One man who hosted us for lunch at the homeless shelter told us his story. He had a master’s degree in engineering but when his mother got sick he had to take care of her. He had promised her he would take care of her as she, a single mom, had taken care of him. As she got worse he stayed home more and eventually lost his job. When she went into a care facility he had to leave the house and soon he was homeless. This story really stunned the people in the group who had never expected homeless people to have advanced degrees. And yet there are many homeless people with college degrees.

So the conversations began and spiritual change started to happen. At that time in my life I was also journeying with two refugees, one from China and one from Africa (a survivor of torture), both of whom became my friends. I was learning about survival, about faith and about the idea of living my priorities. When you’ve had to give up everything, you care less about material things and more about what matters most. I gave away a lot of my things, reduced my expenses and began to live a simpler and more creative life. It was a freeing time rather than a time of diminishment.

Janae: It seems like you are getting more actively involved in spiritual deepening within your own life and in these classes involving the marginalized? Were there any other classes like this?

Janet: Yes, it sparked me to concentrate on teaching things that would deepen people spiritually and thus change their lives and work. So I began to co-teach classes on moving from success to significance to surrender, on the process of transformation at the Wall, and I also taught on-line classes on the inner life. In my spiritual direction practice I worked primarily with people who were at the Wall and wanting to make significant changes. But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. First came all the essays…

Janae: I love this story because you really didn’t want to write them, did you?

Janet: No, I didn’t want to write any more. I felt I was finished writing and one December my spiritual director asked me if I was writing about any of the things that were happening to me. For instance, I had a gift of tears. I couldn’t stop my crying episodes. I was not depressed or under stress, I just couldn’t stop crying. She pointed out that one of my favorite mentors, St. Igantius had the same experience and asked me to read about it. I did and it all became clear to me, that this was a new way for me to deepen and experience more intimacy with God. So I wrote. And since writing about that particular gift of tears, I’ve met several other people who’ve experienced the same thing, a gift I knew nothing about earlier. I also started listening to my body giving me messages through physical symptoms that were directly related to what was going on in my life. As I said, I was not that interested in writing, but my director strongly encouraged me to do it any way, just to see what happened.

Janae: I’ve heard that spiritual directors are like angels sometimes, asking us to do things that we may not see for ourselves. Sounds like she was one of your angels.

Janet: Believe me, I’ve had a lot of angels along the way. Sooo, kind of against my better judgment I began writing short essays, at my spiritual director’s request. They began falling into my lap too, just like the poems and the icons. Since then I’ve written about seventy essays about a wide range of topics pertaining to the inner life, many of which are honest questions I’ve had or the real ways in which God shows up in my life. Many are about pain or questions about God or about our shadows. Several of the essays end up being about how funny God is. One is about the spirituality of baseball—no surprise! I don’t know where these essays are headed yet, but Fay, one of my friends in the network, encouraged me to start a blog. I didn’t want to do it because of the pressure to produce writing regularly, but when she said I could load all of my essays on the blog and then publish one a week, I decided to try it. Wow, it’s amazing. Now I just invite people to subscribe and then I send the essays along. The theme of the blog is “at river’s edge” and it depicts how God is inviting us deeper and deeper into the river’s current so we can be more trusting of God’s hand in our lives. The address is atriversedge.wordpress.com FREE!

Janae: I subscribe to your blog and you need to tell us what else you have in creative storage on your blog. It’s not just writing.

Janet: No, I’ve not limited it to words. I also include icons and photos and poems and videos from time to time. One thing I’ve not mentioned is that my paper icons have morphed into quilted icons, since quilting is one of my favorite things. I would not have thought of this but a woman in my quilt group suggested it. And voila, it worked. I love putting these images on cloth and hanging them on my wall or giving them away. Just a month or so ago when I was in the middle of a stressful time with a flood in my condo, a business transition, and no heat or air conditioning, I had another creative gift, the idea that I could have a signature scripture verse that I could use for icons, one that fit what I’ve been teaching about for a long time. The verse is “Weeping may tarry for the night but joy comes with the morning.” Ps. 30:5 It fits so well the idea of the Wall and freedom, darkness and light etc. So I’ve made several six-inch icons of this idea, that I call pocket icons, and I will be selling them on my web site and perhaps on the blog in the future. Here’s a couple of examples of my smaller icons. So more creative ideas are breaking through…

Janae: It sounds like you are willing to let things evolve and just see what the Holy has in store. That takes faith. What gives you that kind of faith?

Janet: It does take faith. I believe that it is primarily due to my quieting down and letting intimacy with God infiltrate me more thoroughly. I’m actually grateful for my anxiety reaction those many years ago. In fact, I have to monitor this regularly since it is my body’s sign to me when I’m overdoing things or facing an unsafe situation. When I trust God, my life doesn’t lose all stress but I manage it differently and hold all things more lightly. I laugh more and I’m continually surprised by grace. My overwhelming feeling is gratitude and now I feel that my cup is truly running over. “That’s all I’ve got to say. Would you like me to repeat that??” 🙂

Janae: Thanks so much for telling us about spiritual deepening in such a personal, honest and beautiful way. It certainly is an inspiration for me and I’m sure for others as well. I appreciate knowing you. If people have personal questions may they contact you?

Janet: Yes, by all means. My email is janethagberg@comcast.net

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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I really didn’t understand what my number one business value (Lead by Faith: Pray for God’s guidance) meant until I had the great privilege to hear Immaculee Ilibagiza speak in person and then read her book called Led by Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide.

When I first heard of Immaculee’s story, I was immersed right away in who is she and how she’s an incredible example of living in faith. Faith is all she had for the 3 months that she was hid in the bathroom with 7 other women during the Rwandan genocide in the 1994. During this time, they couldn’t talk to each other in fear that they would be found. “As hundred of killers hunted her, Immaculee formed a profound relationship with God that transcended the bloodshed and butchery – a relationship that enabled her to emerge from the slaughter with a spirit purged of hatred and a heart brimming with forgiveness.”

Before she went into hiding her father gave her a rosary. She used this rosary to keep her sane and safe. She believed that it’s one of the things that provided the miracle that these women survived. Many days she would say the rosary 20 or more times a day. For those of you who don’t know about the rosary, it’s a ritual of praying to the Holy Mother, Mary, asking her to intercede for our prayers. It looks like a necklace as you say prayers for each bead. By the time she was freed, she was able to forgive those who murdered her family and many, many of her friends.

A couple of years ago, Immaculee came to my alma mater in Minnesota, the University of St. Thomas, to share her journey. My best friend, Julie Wylie who I met at St. Thomas, and I heard her speak. Here is a picture of us with Immaculee. She shared stories from her first book Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust as well as her new book is about how she navigated the world, now as an orphan in her young twenties, with only an “abiding faith in God to guide and protect her.”

Just being in her presence you could sense her holiness and devotion to God and her love of Mary. She shared the story of how she “accidentally” met best-selling author Wayne Dwyer, which we all know that it was a “God-cidence,” who then knew her story had to be told. Her took her under his wing and helped her get her book published. She then accompanied him on one of his book tours with public TV.

Here’s how she led by faith, which allowed God to lead the way in regards to her book. She writes, “I picked up the Yellow Pages and began looking for publishing houses in New York City, but I decided that it would be easier and faster to let God to the searching. I place the manuscript in a box beside my Bible and left the rest up to Him. As usual, I took out my rosary to pray — but in keeping with my new vocation, I picked up a pen and wrote this letter.

Dear Lord,

Thanks for helping me finish the manuscript. I hope it’s what you had in mind. But now that it’s done, You have to find someone to print it and then put it in the window display at Barnes & Noble. This is really Your story more than mine, and I’m looking forward to reading it it once You have made it into a book.

Thank You again, God.

Your loving daughter,

Immaculee

I put the letter in an envelope, sealed it and placed it in the middle of the manuscript. Three days later, God introduced me to the man who get my book published – Wayne Dwyer.” Amazing, huh?!

She is so humble and shared how she continues to let God guide her every step. During the time she was in the bathroom, she was forced to rely on God. She realized the power of putting her life in His hands was the only way to live. While it’s harder now that she has the distractions of life to deal with, she continues to lead her life by faith. I encourage you to check out her story and books. Click here. You’ll be inspired by her spirit and love for God.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most. She started Project GratOtude, a movement to increase gratitude in people’s lives.

Do you struggle at work? I sure do.

Increasing demands. Limited resources. Out of sorts co-workers feeling the pinch. Negativity that abounds. It feels like stress is at an all time high. And it’s not as if demands on the home-front, or any other front have eased up to make room for the added stress of the workplace.

Work is the place God continues to use to transform me into the woman of God He’s calling me to be.

My name is Shari Harris. I’m the author of Walking in Faith Stories of Hope and Encouragement for the Workplace (2011). My book is a collection of faith at work stories chronicling my faith journey. God has called me to share my faith at work and to share my stories with you in hopes of encouraging you.

It’s not easy for any one of us. We need to encourage each other, and one way we can do this is to have real conversations about work and how challenging it can be. In the call to share God has asked me to be real and share my heart with you.

Hopefully my book will not only encourage you in your faith and in bringing it work, but it will shed light into the creepy corners of bringing our feelings and our whole-self to work with us when we go. My hope is that in being vulnerable with my life, that you will have the courage then in turn to be the same, giving others freedom to be themselves at work. I’d like to think we can inspire each other to have the hard conversations about work and in doing so help each other. Above all, I want you to know that you are not alone. We all struggle. We all struggle in our workplaces.

We can tend to rush through our days, one task after another with an end never in sight, forgetting what is really important.

My mother passed way last December after a four and one half year courageous battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease (perhaps better known as ALS). This disease robs the body of every function, from eating to walking, until it finally reaches the lungs. My family and I learned a lot as we journeyed the path with her.

Work doesn’t even hit the top ten priorities in life when I line it up with things like faith, family, friends, good health, etc. Yet, we need to be there to make a living to support ourselves and our families, right? Indeed, we do. We just need not fall into the trap of putting work first and getting out-of-balance by spending an extreme amount of time at work.

In my book, Walking in Faith Stories of Hope and Encouragement for the Workplace, I talk about “the busiest girl in the office.” We all know the woman or man who is so self-absorbed in his or her work that they have no time to connect with work neighbors, the person who wears their “busyness” like a lapel pin, boosting of how important their work makes them. It seems as though we’ve come to accept “too busy” as an excuse for innumerable transgressions. Have you ever heard a person with a last breath lament they didn’t spend enough time at work? Probably not.

I’m probably most excited about having been able to dedicate my book to my mother. She always encouraged me. My mom always believed in me. My plan is to donate a portion of the proceeds to ALS research.

I’d encourage you to take a look at your work life through another lens today – through the lens of what the Word of God teaches, and ask yourself if you are walking in love in the workplace or if you need to think again about bringing Christ to work with you. It will make a big difference in our day. It will make a big difference in you. It may not be an easy walk, but nothing really worthwhile is. You can be confident that God is faithful and He is your constant companion.

Bringing God to work with you is the antidote to struggling at work.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Shari writes, speaks, and teaches passionately on faith in the workplace. Shari’s life was changed when a coworker shared her faith at work. In the years since, God has used the workplace to bless, inspire, encourage, and mold Shari into the woman of strong faith she is today. God has given Shari passion and compassion to help and encourage others in the workplace.

People are hungry for authenticity and God is calling us to be honest—with Him, with ourselves and with each other. We all struggle. We are all challenged.

God has encouraged Shari to share her personal stories of struggle and perseverance in Walking in Faith: Stories of Hope and Encouragement for the Workplace, Shari’s first book, to bring hope to people struggling in the workplace. Shari’s prayer is that you will find encouragement in these stories. Her website is www.sharijharris.com