Jim Spillane, SJ - University of St. Thomas

modes of thinking which denigrates the body in favor of the soul. The body is the locus
of revelation and therefore an essential part of God's salvation. In no sense, therefore,
can we derive a negative attitude to the body in the Bible. We cannot hold a
perspective which sees the pleasures of the body as irrelevant or evil. Not only is the
body affirmed in relation to God, eating, drinking and sexuality are also understood as
of value in themselves, with the capacity to symbolize God's salvation.
All this has important implications for the way we live our lives as Christians. A
genuine theology of pleasure takes seriously the creative power of play and is based
on the world as the sphere of God's creative and redemptive activity. This means a
rediscovery of God's gift in creation. It also means a challenge to our ethical
neurosis: the assumption that we honor God's gifts when, and only when, we do not
abuse them by overuse. God's gifts are equally "abused" through neglect and fear. A
theology of pleasure challenges forms of spirituality which identify God only in
suffering and painful human experience. We need to develop a spirituality which sees
play and pleasure as equally God revealing. In the pleasure of eating and drinking, in
the joy of sexual passion, we need to discover the God who is joyful and extravagant,
the God of play and passion, the God of love and celebration. Our caution and timidity as
much as our moralism and hyprocracy need to be challenged by such a spirituality.
III. THE SPECIAL NATURE OF WORK IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
The growth of services is nothing new. As early as 1900 America and Britain both
had more jobs in services than in industry. By 1950 services employed half of all
American workers. America has the biggest service sector, accounting for 72% of its
GDP (The Economist 20 February, 1993, 63). Services are the fastest growing part of
international trade, accounting for 20% of total world trade and 30% of American
exports. Tourism is one of these services. One in every 16 workers world-wide already
owes his or her job to tourism, according to a report by the US-based Wharton
Econometric Forecasting Associates. According to the report, travel and tourism is the
largest industry in the world in terms of employment.
Work in the service sector is quite different from that in agriculture or
manufacturing. A service has been described as a "deed, act, or performance" (Berry,
1980, 24). Two functional issues are: at whom (or what) is the act directed, and is this
act tangible or intangible in nature? These two questions result in a four-way
classification scheme involving (1) tangible actions to people's bodies, such as airline
transportation, haircutting and surgery; (2) tangible actions to goods and other physical
possessions, such as air freight, lawn mowing and janitorial services; (3) tangible
actions directed at people's minds, such as broadcasting and education; and (4)
intangible actions directed at people's intangible assets, such as insurance, investment
banking and consulting. (Lovelock, 1998,47)
This categorization scheme is useful in helping to answer the following questions
related to the analysis and marketing of services. Does the customer need to be
physically present: throughout service delivery? only to initiate or terminate the service