{"id":482,"date":"2011-09-05T06:30:37","date_gmt":"2011-09-05T10:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/awakeintheworld\/?p=482"},"modified":"2011-09-05T06:30:37","modified_gmt":"2011-09-05T10:30:37","slug":"labor-of-love-work-as-a-spiritual-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/awakeintheworld\/2011\/09\/labor-of-love-work-as-a-spiritual-practice.html","title":{"rendered":"Labor of Love: Work as a Spiritual Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We often imagine we need to quit our jobs and volunteer for a non-profit or work for the Peace Corps or a soup kitchen for our work to hold meaning and spiritual value. But all work, when done with the energy of love and devotion becomes elevated. It gives a deep sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.<\/p>\n<p>Work transforms in meaning when it becomes a spiritual practice. While work is often thought of as an obligation to earn money, when it\u2019s combined with the aim of service to others and offered to the Divine it is rendered sacred. Work in this way gives a sense of purpose to the one who performs it. And this kind of work does not build ego, but rather promotes humility, connection and elevation.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/%7E\/media\/70F5DEA1688047C595758C01B9908EF1.ashx?w=220&amp;h=165\" alt=\"\" width=\"220\" height=\"165\" \/><\/p>\n<p>For today, do your work as a spiritual <em>sadhana<\/em>, a spiritual practice. Devote it to the Divine in whatever form you adore. That smile you offer or the kind word you speak and the good, selfless energy you give may transform one person\u2019s day from bitter to sweet.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bio:<\/strong> Debra Moffitt is author of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Awake-World-Practices-Divinely-Inspired\/dp\/0738727229\">Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life<\/a>. A visionary and teacher, she\u2019s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices at the Sophia Institute and other venues in the U.S. and Europe. Her mind\/body\/spirit articles, essays and stories appear in publications around the globe and were broadcast by BBC World Services Radio. She has spent over fifteen years practicing meditation, working with dreams and doing spiritual practices. Visit her online at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.awakeintheworld.com\/\">http:\/\/www.awakeintheworld.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We often imagine we need to quit our jobs and volunteer for a non-profit or work for the Peace Corps or a soup kitchen for our work to hold meaning and spiritual value. But all work, when done with the energy of love and devotion becomes elevated. It gives a deep sense of fulfillment and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":409,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,4,26,17,3],"tags":[323,65,83,322],"class_list":["post-482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-inspiration","category-meditation","category-sacrifice","category-spiritual-practice","tag-labor-as-service","tag-seva","tag-work-as-spiritual-practice","tag-work-with-meaning"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Labor of Love: Work as a Spiritual Practice - Awake in the World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/awakeintheworld\/2011\/09\/labor-of-love-work-as-a-spiritual-practice.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Labor of Love: Work as a Spiritual Practice - Awake in the World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We often imagine we need to quit our jobs and volunteer for a non-profit or work for the Peace Corps or a soup kitchen for our work to hold meaning and spiritual value. 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