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Everyone would agree that the commercialization of all holidays is ridiculous, especially for Christmas. Often by the first week of December a holiday fatigued has already settled in, after all we have been seeing Christmas decorations in stores since October.  It is hard to see any good that comes from the commercialization of Christian holidays.

Ten years on from the Great Recession, the faith and work movement finds itself growing in momentum and impact. Alongside our effort are other movements that have challenged our collective sense of America and how she is governed: the unique candidacies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the #metoo movement, Marches for Women, the Tea Party, Black Lives Matter, and more.

Women in jail have such tremendous needs. They face such complex situations. Criminal charges. Poverty. Abuse. Addiction. Homelessness. These women needed lawyers, doctors, addiction specialists, and social workers. I spent 5 years as a volunteer chaplain in the Seminole County Jail, and many days I would walk out of the jail with an overwhelming sense that I had not done enough.

This is a great question that most of us have asked ourselves at some point or another.  This question gets traction with us because we do not understand work and the One who designed us for it. This week The Collaborative is launching its Vocational Guild Initiative. Our launch week includes three events that are serving as primers to help people understand guilds and why they are worthy of our time. While grossly, oversimplified one of the reasons vocational guilds are important is to answer the question this week’s article by Art Lindsley is asking—Is your work spiritual enough? 

I must admit that I am drawn to anything that can improve my productivity. However, I am also painfully aware of my sinful heart which makes me keenly interested in Daniel Patterson’s article included below. Patterson, the chief of staff of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, brings to our attention three powerful cautionary points in our quest to squeeze more out of every day.

Have you ever been enjoying a conversation, and someone brings up a hot new show that you did not know existed? Of course, everyone else knows about it. Characters and terms you have not even heard of start flying around the room, and you have no hope of catching them. All you can do is duck and get of out of the way of the hype plane.

Last weekend’s Wall Street Journal featured a fascinating article, by Carl Schramm, that certain bucks the prevailing thought about innovation and creativity. While this article does not discuss all the implications, the observations of this article certainly raises interesting questions when you think about corporate America being incubators for innovation. Carl Schramm is a professor at Syracuse University.  

 In the book Anansi Boys, Anansi, the African god of storytelling, is sitting on his front porch in Florida (he’s retired) when he notices a prize-winning dog strutting back and forth on the lawn across the street. It’s a boxer with all the proud defining characteristics of its breed.

I decided this morning that the bus drivers are my favorite working citizens in the District. They good-naturedly wait for me when I, all but, sprint across the crosswalk to board the bus on time. They don’t seem to hold it against me that I forget to buzz my card when I finally do make it on.

Dr. Anne Bradley, Vice President of Economic Initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, helps us to better understand economics 101 when it comes to the relationship between creating wealth and creating jobs. Job creation is a hot political talking point and constantly in the news.