Yesterday we meditated on Work and Spirituality. I was inspired to do so by several recent experiences including Pope Leo’s encyclical, the interaction with attendees of the Sardinia retreat, and also an email that arrived from a student in our Spirituality and Work Doctor of Ministry program at UCS, Bernard Amadei.
When he joined our program, he told me he was “burned out” from 27 years of teaching in the engineering department at the University of Colorado in Boulder and that he did not know what was next for him. After two weeks of class at UCS, he told me, “I’ve got my soul back,” returned to Boulder, and started up Engineers Without Borders.
This week he sent me a summary and the Conclusion chapter of his new book, Engineering With Soul: Inner and Outer Dimensions of Earth-Centered Engineering. He says that 21st century engineer challenges “demand more than technical solutions.” What it needs is an understanding of the dynamics of socio-technical-psychological systems in which infrastructure, institutions, relationships, and inner human dimensions…co-evolve. Perception, values, emotions, and meaning-making are central to engineering.
His basic premise is that “systems reflect the consciousness of those who design and manage them” and his book attempts to “reframe engineering as both a technical and deeply human practice.”
What he calls “inner forces” help shape decision-making and these include “fear, denial, trust, shame, compassion, and cooperation.” Like an iceberg, visible events merge from deeper behavior patterns, system structures, mental models, mindsets, and paradigms. Soul Work is necessary and provides the deepest leverage point for systemic change, where values, purpose, awareness, and shared understanding guide collective action.
It seems to me that what Bernard is attempting to bring about in his profession applies to all our professions. He is sharing a template that all of us can utilize to renew work.
Among the pathways for engineering practice he proposes are the following: cultivating curiosity and appreciation for complex systems; embracing humility and uncertainty in the fact of incomplete knowledge; fostering creativity and imagination in the design process; and advancing compassion, justice, and restoration through engineering solutions. One recognizes the four paths of creation spirituality being dutifully applied here to renewing engineering as a profession.
Topics he treats include “Engineering and Indigenous Knowledge Systems”; “Soul Work and the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality”; “Engineering as a Mirror Consciousness”; “Compassion and/in action: Reuniting Ethics and Engineering”. And so much more.
He is aware that his book could cause a stir and even hostility from his professional comrades. But he is prepared for that. (That’s part of the prophetic vocation after all.)
In his Conclusion chapter he speaks of how Engineering with Soul puts forward an “expanded epistemology that integrates systems thinking with inner awareness and technical expertise with relational intelligence.” As such, “equations and narratives, data and dialogue; models and meaning are not opposites but complementary ways of knowing complex reality. “
He emphasizes how human survival requires such a consciousness. Engineering (like so many of our professions) stands at a pivotal moment in history. While it has provided improvements in human well-being and quality of life for centuries, it has also contributed to environmental degradation, social inequity, cultural fragmentation, and has often prioritized efficiency over humanity, meaning and care. It has not always been true to its code of ethics.
Such a critique and analysis needs to be applied to other professions as well: Where are the lawyers, businesspeople, educators, politicians, and economists doing the same? Renewing our professions by including our inner lives and our sense of meaning, purpose and values–here lies a pathway to humanity’s, and the Earth’s, fuller future.
Banner image: Members of FLC “Engineers Without Borders build a water supply system in Thailand.” Image shared by Tenpenken at Wikipedia.
Queries for Contemplation
Does the challenge Bernard puts forth to his profession inspire you regarding your own? And to critique other work worlds as well?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood For Our Time
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality.
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice.
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society.
Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision For a New Generation.
Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson and Jen Listug: Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
1 thought on “Bernard Amadei’s Challenge to his Engineering Profession”
Yes. Being guided by God’s Spirit of Love~Wisdom~Peace~Justice~Healing~Strength~Transformation~Freedom~Creativity~Beauty~Joy~Compassion~Loving Diverse Oneness… in Our inner and outer lives Is essential in Our personal and communal spiritual journeys with Sacred Mother Earth and with All physical/non-physical spiritual dimensions/beings (lorian.org) in Our evolving Humanity and Sacred Co-Creation Living Cosmos….