Fully Engaged

Are you asking what it means to work with integrity and purpose? How your non-work, leisure pursuits contribute to a full life? How to increase the elements of trust and civility in your community, work, and the institutions you support?

Join us for a small group discussion series designed for business professionals looking for more holistic forms of engagement in life and work. Our readings take us deep into the social, intellectual, and personal challenges that great writers and leaders have posed. As we discuss their meaning for our families, vocations, and culture, we'll seek to lead more fully engaged lives.

Format

• Small groups of 10 (a mix of age and experience). We'll talk about some great writings that engage these issues
• We'll read about 50 pages before each meeting and come together for a "shared inquiry" into their meaning
• Texts will be mailed participants at least 10 days before the first meeting

Leaders and Readings

Bethel professors with significant experience in conducting seminar discussions will lead the small groups.

The first 4 readings are from Leading Lives that Matter, Ed. M. Schwehn and D. Bass (Eerdmans, 2006). The last four readings are from the four-volume set entitled 50th Anniversary Series, published by the Great Books Foundation (individual titles below).

Session 1—Listening and not Listening | October 3
Amy Tan, “Two Kinds,” pp. 370-380.

Malcolm X, excerpt from The Autobiography of Malcolm X, pp. 381-385.

All readings from Leading Lives that Matter

Session 2—Coming to Understand Another | October 24

James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues,” in Leading Lives that Matter, pp. 330-357.

Session 3—Responding with Integrity | November 14

Theodore Roosevelt,“The Vigor of Life,” pp. 83-86
Dietrich Bonhoeffer,“The Place of Responsibility,” pp. 107-11

Jane Addams,“Filial Relations,” pp. 303-08

All readings from Leading Lives that Matter

Session 4—Discovering What Matters | January 23, 2015

Leo Tolstoy,“The Death of Ivan Ilych,” in Leading Lives that Matter, 492-539

Session 5— Finding Happiness | February 27

Aristotle,“The Highest Good,” in Happiness and Discontent (50th Anniversary Series)

Session 6—Confronting the Issue of Power | March 27

Friedrich Nietzsche,“On Evil, Guilt, and Power,” in The Evil and the Guilty (50th Anniversary Series)

Session 7—Leaving Home | April 17

William Faulkner,“Barn Burning,” in Parent and Child (50th Anniversary Series)

Session 8— Moving Forward and Looking Back | May 15

Martin Luther King, Jr.,“Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

Abraham Lincoln,“Second Inaugural Address”

All readings from Politics, Leadership, and Justice (50th Anniversary Series)