Back to Media Page Review: Spiritual Steps on the Road to Success: Gaining the goal without losing your soul, by Linda Seger This is an important book that fills a much-needed niche in the spiritual literature, grounded as it is in the everyday work situations of a very wide variety of people. Starting from secular contexts, it seeks to demonstrate how people of faith make sense of their lives and their role in the world. As a result, the damaging boundaries so often encountered between the worlds of faith and of work are nowhere to be found. Part autobiography, part based on interviews with a very diverse range of people from a number of countries, Linda Seger seeks to investigate what success means both in spiritual and professional terms. Every facet of the book is grounded in the real world, whether this be the world of science, film making, acting, publishing, the business world, missionary or humanitarian work. The problems people have experienced and the challenges they have encountered are all exposed and woven into a rich tapestry of experience-based reflection on spiritual truths. Linda Seger's own varied background, both in theology and the workplace, is alluded to throughout, with honesty and integrity. She is a Quaker and at many points she calls on Quaker insights. However, she also calls on many different theological traditions and writers, both contemporary and historical, and in so doing demonstrates the depth of understanding that is to be found in many Christian traditions. She is ruthlessly honest and never flinches from admitting to a lack of knowledge or understanding; ups and downs are acknowledged and doubts are taken seriously. When things go wrong in people's lives, she attempts to come to grips with what may have been amiss, and she accepts that our ways are sometimes far removed from God's ways. While Linda Seger's writing is unreservedly contemporary, her reliance on biblical teaching is evident throughout. What is so refreshing is that there is never a hint of any slipshod, packaged or superficial answers. She is always prepared to stand up to the demands and sometimes tragedies of everyday existence. Of the numerous gems in the book a number caught my attention. The chapter on 'being important' is particularly insightful. How often does one encounter the issues that arise when you become a public person, when everyone wants a piece of you, and when you become the object of resentment? What emerges is the importance of spiritual communities and support groups, along with the importance of keeping our identities and maintaining our integrity. The value of this discussion lies in its stress on the centrality of God in the world of success and failure, as we are reminded that success and prosperity have a place but we can get along without them. The analysis of the seven deadly sins is masterly, rescuing them from the historical obscurity that so often characterizes their treatment. The discussion of envy, covetousness, lust and gluttony, for instance, is exceedingly practical and very down-to-earth, with illustrations of what these sins mean in the contemporary world of work. Their relevance for today shines through with breath-taking clarity. Linda Seger spells out the potential of a web-thinking model as the basis for business, and shows how it stems from Christian principles, with its model of love, care, support and shared knowledge. As she does this, we are pointed to the importance of discerning the gifts of others, of how we cope with competition, and the essential role of collaboration in business. And then there is the chapter on 'becoming unimportant'. How rarely does one ever encounter such a notion? And yet it is crucial if we are to keep the ego in check. There may well be, therefore, a calling for us to become unimportant. These insights are just the tip of the iceberg, insights that will benefit anyone reading the book, from the role of confronting evil to finding a balance in life between contemplation and competition, and on to the place of tragedy with its prospects for bringing blessings and a change in direction. The thrust of the book is that Christianity is a religion of involvement in the world, and therefore is to be intimately involved in all our successes and challenges. Each chapter closes with questions and Scripture passages to consider, making this an eminently suitable book for group study as well as individual reflection. D Gareth Jones Professor of Anatomy and Structural Biology University of Otago, New Zealand