May 2014 ~ Spirituality in the Workplace at Tyson Foods

Resources (links, books, articles, the lighter side)

May 2014 – Spirituality in the Workplace at Tyson Foods

By Charlie Garcia, Chaplain, Tyson Foods, New Holland Plant http://www.tysonfoods.com for their company newsletter (used with permission).

Introduction: The office of Chaplain is presented with many challenges. For instance, how does one address the needs of such a spiritually diverse population? And what is the appropriate place for spirituality in a work environment as different and distinct as Tyson Foods, New Holland? I read an interesting article and obtained permission to quote some of its contents for this article and others in a series for our newsletter. This article will serve as an introduction.

I have been in contact with the author, Mrs. Barbara Taylor, and I am told that her article has gone around the world and has even been re-published in the United Nations Newsletter. Mrs. Taylor said in her article by the same title, "We define ‘Spirituality in the Workplace’ using Seven Principles: Creativity, Communication, Respect, Vision, Partnership, Energy and Flexibility." We will look at the first two next month and continue as a series. "All Seven Principles are related and all are important." We recognize that each person has their own beliefs. We respect each individual’s belief and their right to hold their beliefs sacred and private. Spirituality - as we define it, is a way of expressing your own humanity."

Whether you celebrate New Year’s Day on January 1^st or January 31^st as do the Chinese or March 31^st as does the Hindu tradition or October 25^th as in the Islamic Culture. Traditions are significant to you and to your family and your country! You may celebrate Passover on April 15^th or Easter on April 20^th. You might observe Christmas on December 25^th or Dia de los Reyes on January 6^th. You may observe Good Friday and Palm Sunday, while others observe Ramadan.

As Americans, we pride ourselves on our respect of the rights each person and never to the exclusion of another person. We seek tolerance for this or that minority whether or not we agree with that person or not. We may not agree with what a person believes; we have pledged our lives to uphold their right to believe it. I may not agree with what you say, however, I will defend your right to say it!

We have found in this "grand experiment" called the United States, that we cannot legislate what we consider righteousness. We can only lead by example.

We have fought as a country for those people who have been overrun by those seeking to remove from them, their freedoms. There is an importance placed on that person seeking asylum from the persecutions of their governments. So they come to this new land of freedom and opportunity, just as we have come in generations past seeking a new life and a new beginning for our families.

Our journeys and families may have started with those whose diverse languages were first spoken on this continent. And I think it is important to remember that English was not the first language spoken on this land.

The Louisiana Purchase would remind us that all that land was purchased from the French who laid claim to it. Much of the South West was at one time called New Spain.

There is a real danger that we would seek to exclude those who are foreign to our understanding. Can we become those persons would look with disdain at those whose languages and religions we do not understand?

Symbolically, at the feet of the Statue of Liberty lie the chains of oppression and tyranny. Have you ever considered the words of the Poem on the Statue of Liberty? I have included the entire poem at the bottom of the page for your consideration. The plaque reads, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

There is an invitation for those people of the world to come and find a home here, just as our forefathers found a home here. Would it not be considered rude to invite someone to your home and then look upon their differences with animosity and disdain or to treat them in any other way than with the hospitality due to an invited guest?

Take a moment and greet a new Team Member. Many are desiring to learn English. What better way than by speaking to them?

Have there been abuses and have there been those who have violated our hospitality? Absolutely!

However, our own philosophies and religions have directed that we would be the "good Samaritan," and not grow weary in well doing.

Rather that we would teach these invited peoples to become productive members of this great new experiment, "testing whether this nation or any other nation so conceived in liberty can long endure." [from the Gettysburg Address]

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

[from the sonnet by poet Emma Lazarus written to raise funds for the statue’s base, and later engraved on that pedestal.]

Internet Resources

History of the Statue of Liberty http://www.statueofliberty.org/Statue_of_Liberty.html
The Gettysburg Address (Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address
The Gettysburg Address (5 versions) http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm
Questions People Ask about Spirituality and the Workplace http://www.innovint.com/downloads/qa_workplace.php
Spirituality and the Practice of Clowning http://www.aath.org/spirituality-and-the-practice-of-clowning
Six Components of a Model for Workplace Spirituality http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2010/08/six-components-of-a-model-for-workplace-spirituality/

Books - Disclosure: We get a small commission for purchases made via links to Amazon.

Awaken the Inner Shaman: A Guide to the Power Path of the Heart. José Stevens, Ph.D. Sounds True, 2014. ISBN 978-1622030934
Transforming Your Dragons: Turning Personality Fear Patterns into Personal Power. José Stevens. Bear & Co; (July 1994) ISBN: 1879181177
The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America. Currency/Doubleday; (June 1996) ISBN: 0-385-48418-6
Mind of a Manager, Soul of a Leader; Craig Hickman, John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York, 1990 (how to balance management with leadership and come to integration of their seeming opposites) ISBN: 0471569348
The Living Organization: Spirituality in the Workplace. William A Guillory. Innovations International, 1997. ISBN 978-0933241145
Income Without a Job: Living Well Without a Paycheck. Michael Jay Anthony, Barbara J. Taylor. Lulu.com, 2008 ISBN-13: 978-0-557-00377-8. Website: www.income-without-a-job.com. Tap into your own creativity and use your full potential. Learn how to see opportunities that others miss.

Articles

The Lighter Side

Humor & Spirituality http://www.aath.org/humor-and-spirituality

About our resource links: We do not endorse or agree with all the beliefs in these links. We do keep an open mind about different viewpoints and respect the ability of our readers to decide for themselves what is useful.

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