Work and the Life of the Spirit.

Cultural Writing. Spirituality. In WORK AND THE LIFE OF THE SPIRITt, Douglas Thorpe has assembled the finest array of writing on work. From ancient to modern times, from Eastern to Western philosophies, writers and thinkers have ceaselessly considered work's relationship to the personal and spiritual dimensions of our daily lives. The overall effect of the book is to renew a sense of meaning for life, to give our acts dignity in an age in which so much worthy work is despised or ignored (Barry Lopez). This antholgy includes short pieces relating to the maning of work by many wirters including Walt Whitman, Linda Hogan, William Carlos Willaims, Denise Levertov, Lao-tzu and Gary Snyder. Editor, Douglas Thorpe is the author of the cirtical study A NEW EARTH. He teaches at Seattle Pacific University and is porgram director of the Center for Spiritual Development.

Editor Douglas Thorpe's ambitious anthology of writings stretches back to the Navajo creation myth and legends of Athena's weaving and then forward to include examples from 19th- and 20th-century greats, such as Walt Whitman's gleanings in "Song of Myself" and William Carlos Williams's restful poem about "The Corn Harvest." The book contains essays by present-day sages, including Pam Houston (Cowboys Are My Weakness), Louise Erdrich, Thomas Moore, Studs Terkel, Thich Nhat Han, Gary Snyder, Kathleen Norris, and Linda Hogan. Every contribution speaks to the deeper dimensions of work--how does one earn a living and stay true to his or her creative yearnings? How do seemingly mundane human tasks contribute to the greater good? These questions are answered in many eloquent and surprising essays. For example, when Brenda Peterson offers the praises of chores after discovering the body of roommate who committed suicide, readers are welcomed into the intimate ways that daily housekeeping can heal the spirit and ultimately comfort the masses. --Gail Hudson