“Nothing Is to Be Preferred to the Work of God”: Cultivating Monastic Detachment for a Postindustrial Work Ethic

Malesic, Jonathan

doi:10.1353/sce.2015.0003

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Moreover, there are contributions by scholars and practitioners on the relevance of the RSB in human resource management (Dollard, Marett-Crosby, & Garland, 2002;Galbraith & Galbraith, 2004;Wolf & Rosanna, 2007), and the connection between the RSB and organizational success (Folador, 2016;Skrabec, 2003). Other studies focus on the role of work in the RSB, as one of the more important elements of Benedictine monastic life that can affect contemporary work ethics (Malesic, 2015;Tredget, 2002). Nevertheless, the RSB is a partially unexplored, but rich deposit of practical wisdom that can help in building good organizations and interpreting their ontology.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Good Community: Practical Wisdom, Organizational Purpose, and the Rule of St. Benedict

Mion¹,

Tessari²

2019

IJBSS

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In some managerial approaches there is the hidden risk of reducing people to their rational capabilities applied to decision-making; on the contrary, people cannot suppress their deep nature, which involves emotions and spirituality in all their actions. This paper starts from this point of view and explores the importance of practical wisdom to build institutions that work toward the common good. The paper explores the Rule of St. Benedict (RSB) as a crucial source of spiritual capital that can help the development of practical wisdom for management. The research highlights three strongly related characteristics of the RSB: the coenobitical nature of Benedictine communities, the vision of abbots as "prudent managers", and the role of manual labor in monastic daily life. This analysis reveals several managerial implications of the RSB; in particular, with regard to the recognition of the purpose of organizations, which exceeds the narrow limits of individual (profitable) goals.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Good Community: Practical Wisdom, Organizational Purpose, and the Rule of St. Benedict

Mion¹,

Tessari²

2019

IJBSS

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“…But the Benedictine approach also contains strong anti‐work elements (Malesic ). Manual labor is strictly limited by the monks’ regular communal prayer.…”

Section: From Thoreau To the Theological Canonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Henry David Thoreau's Anti‐Work Spirituality and a New Theological Ethic of Work

Malesic¹

2017

Journal of Religious Ethics

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Although Henry David Thoreau stands outside the Christian canon, his outlook on the relations among spirituality, ecology, and economy highlights how Christian theologians can develop a theological work ethic in our era of economic and ecological precarity. He can furthermore help theologians counter the pro-work bias in much Christian thought. In Walden, Thoreau shows that the best work is an ascetic practice that reveals and reaps the abundance of nature and connects the person to the immanent divine and thereby glimpsing eternity. Thoreau thus offers the outline of a transformed theology of work even as he challenges Protestant vocationalism in the early industrial era. He is therefore a fitting if challenging guide for formulating a theology of the self as agent and product of work, at a moment when the postindustrial ideal of work that is both meaningful and remunerative seems ever more unattainable while the negative impact of our work on nonhuman nature is ever more apparent.

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“… For a fuller exploration of the inadequacy of co‐creation and vocation as keywords for a theology of work in the postindustrial era, see Malesic , 48–50.…”

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A Kenotic Struggle for Dignity

Malesic¹

2016

Journal of Religious Ethics

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Although Booker T. Washington stands outside the theological canon, his writings offer a pragmatic theology that connects the desire for dignity to a kenotic Christology through an ethic of unceasing work. While Washington's project to improve the lives of African Americans in the Jim Crow–era South was severely compromised by political circumstances, problems within his theology of work made his project especially susceptible to those circumstances. The tragedy of Washington's theology stems from his making dignity contingent upon work being recognized as useful by a worker's community. His kenotic ideal of “Christlike” work can actually degrade workers, if their community refuses to recognize their work's merit. Workers’ anxiety about dignity causes them to pour themselves into their work, but a racist society sees African American workers as inherently undignified. Even without Jim Crow's pervasive violence, the postindustrial reappearance of economic doctrines that characterized Washington's era makes his theological ethic relevant again.

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“Nothing Is to Be Preferred to the Work of God”: Cultivating Monastic Detachment for a Postindustrial Work Ethic

Cited by 4 publications

References 16 publications

The Good Community: Practical Wisdom, Organizational Purpose, and the Rule of St. Benedict

The Good Community: Practical Wisdom, Organizational Purpose, and the Rule of St. Benedict

Henry David Thoreau's Anti‐Work Spirituality and a New Theological Ethic of Work

A Kenotic Struggle for Dignity

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