by Rob Tribken | Apr 4, 2023 | Finding Purpose, Working Well
People are worried. Confidence in the economy and the direction of society continues to drop in the face of new threats. Anxiety is natural as we move into an uncertain future. But our ancestors survived threatening circumstances and created a better world, and so...
by Rob Tribken | Apr 2, 2023 | Finding Purpose, Markets, Enterprise, and Wellbeing
In her 1942 essay “Why Work?” Dorothy Sayers made a strong case that we should not undertake work for the money it provides but for the sake of the work itself.[1] Sayers (1893 – 1957), as you might know, was an English crime novelist, poet, and...
by Rob Tribken | Feb 10, 2023 | Finding Purpose
I am happy to say that after lots of research, discussion, writing, and editing, The Sacred Meaning of Everyday Work is now available on Amazon. Thank you to everyone who has provided advice and insight over the years. The book covers a range of topics, but the...
by Rob Tribken | Sep 4, 2019 | Finding Purpose, Spiritual Practices
A Reflection on Mark 1:35-39 Most of us would like to work with a deeper, clearer, more robust sense of mission. A story from Mark 1:35-39 can provide insight into how prayer might help. I think you will find that this passage has something important to say about the...
by Rob Tribken | Aug 11, 2019 | Finding Purpose, Markets, Enterprise, and Wellbeing
From April 16, 2010: In April 2010, the Center for Faith and Enterprise brought scholar Michael Novak (1933-2017) to California for a speaking tour. We sponsored speaking events at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena (hosted by the Max De Pree Center for...
by Rob Tribken | Jul 4, 2017 | Finding Purpose
An acquaintance made a very interesting observation. He said that finding a calling has become a serious problem for many people his age (late 20’s), but not in the way that I had expected. His contention was that there has been so much emphasis, especially...
by Rob Tribken | Feb 18, 2017 | Finding Purpose
I received the sad news that Michael Novak died Thursday. Novak was an outstanding scholar and the author of numerous books, among them The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism and Business as a Calling:Work and the Examined Life. He was also a kind, thoughtful person and...
by Rob Tribken | Feb 2, 2017 | Finding Purpose, Working Well
From a sermon preached by Ralph Waldo Emerson at the Second Church, Boston, October 21, 1832: How many men now regard their business as so much interruption, as so much injury to their religious life? Their religious character is something separate from their daily...
by Rob Tribken | Jan 17, 2017 | Finding Purpose, Working Well
When is passion for our work positive? And when is it negative? When is passion for our work positive? And when is it negative? We sometimes hear that we should “follow our passion.” But what happens when we actually do have a passion for our work—or maybe some other...
by Rob Tribken | Aug 28, 2016 | Finding Purpose, Markets, Enterprise, and Wellbeing
“The Entrepreneurial Calling: Perspectives from Rahner” by the late William J. Toth of Seton Hall is an extraordinary theological reflection on the entrepreneurial vocation and the deeper significance of the entrepreneur’s hope, risk, and service to...
by Rob Tribken | Jul 12, 2014 | Finding Purpose, Markets, Enterprise, and Wellbeing
In his article “Serious Business: Why It Matters,” C.F.E. friend Tony Mulkern summarizes (link) some of the arguments made by Michael Novak during his C.F.E. sponsored speaking tour a few years ago, and then concludes with his own excellent advice to...
