Work and the Shema

Abstract

This article offers a proposal for a spirituality of work that takes its inspiration and guidance from the Shema, ‘the greatest commandment’. Drawing attention to the Hebraic holism and its incorporation of the physical expression of loving God with all one’s ‘might’ or ‘strength’, it calls for a ‘somatic revival’ of human work. It highlights the harmful effects of the sedentary working conditions that have come to characterise the working lives of many in today’s Scotland, and urges the development of a spirituality of work that takes a fuller account of the Shema, ‘which moves its utterers to working in a way that ignites soul, mind and body […] to implement afresh the greatest commandment as integrated in active Christian living’.