Calhoun Spiritual Rhythms for the Enneagram

1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8308-7121-6
Verlag: InterVarsity Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 272 Seiten

The Enneagram opens a remarkable window into the truth about us, enabling us to see how image, wounds, lies, triggers, and default responses shape us every bit as much as our faith. But simply diagnosing our number doesn't do justice to who we are. Nor does it necessarily change us or our relationships. Transformation happens as we grow in awareness and learn how to engage and reflect God's image. And relational repair then results as we apply Enneagram insights to the rhythms and grooves of our ordinary daily lives.For those who have learned about the Enneagram and wonder 'What's next?'-this handbook is the answer. Filled with exercises to engage, challenge, encourage, and sustain, Spiritual Rhythms for the Enneagram will help us grow in greater awareness and lead us to spiritual and relational transformation.Including new insight on the Enneagram and the Harmony Triads, and offering helpful 'Soul Resources' in the appendix, this handbook can be used by individuals or groups.

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun (M.A., Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) has worked in Christian ministry for over thirty years and is currently copastor with her husband, Doug, of Redeemer Community in Wellesley, Massachusetts. A trained spiritual director, she is the author of Spiritual Disciplines Handbook. Adele is a founding member of the Transforming Center and continues to enjoy her involvement with this community.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg

Leseproben

WHO I AM AND WHO I AM NOT

Eights bear the image of God as strong. Your life resonates with Isaiah 1:17:

Learn to do right; seek justice.

Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

plead the case of the widow.

Strength is inevitably part of your story. Stories about who we are and who we are not shape what we do, who we become, and where we get stuck. Eights have a narrative about being tough, strong, and decisive. You skip over the chapters of your life about tenderness, weakness, or vulnerability. This section gives you awareness of some words that shape the narrative of an Eight.

??? BELOVED EIGHTS

Spend some time with the words below that describe who Eights are and are not. Circle the characteristics that resonate with your journey. Star words that express your gifts. Underline words that describe parts of your personality that are unusable by God in their present form. Put a checkmark beside characteristics that you celebrate.

Eights Descriptive Words List

I AM

I AM NOT

strong

passionate

weak

ambivalent

powerful

energetic

impotent

phlegmatic

magnanimous

impulsive

small

procrastinator

self-sufficient

hardworking

needy

easy going

independent

industrious

dependent

lazy

assertive

forceful

push-over

shy

confrontational

intimidating

avoidant

meek

challenging

aggressive

wimp

timid

revolutionary

fearless

slave

fearful

in charge

hard

subordinate

soft

in control

rough

helpless

smooth

my way

tough

accommodating

bleeding heart

boss

invincible

subservient

vulnerable

• ? Which words reflect the image of God in you?

• ? Which words are you most attached to? Addicted to? Compulsive about?

• ? Which do you resist and judge the most?

• ? If you opened up to the words you resist without judgment, how might your life and relationships shift?

• ? Journal about the words that reflect how God’s strength and power affect you.

??? GETTING TO KNOW EIGHTS

This Eight shares how she began to know things in her body when she was three years old. She knew something others did not: “I am the one who knew bigger was better.” Notice how this awareness shapes her narrative.

My first memory attached to my gut intelligence is the Christmas I turned three years old. That year, the one big gift I received was a large doll. She was about three feet tall (she was as tall as I was!), had dark hair and dark eyes, and had a red dress. I named her “The Child” and she never had any other name! I distinctly remember feeling more powerful than and superior to my older sister, who had received a normal-sized baby doll as her gift. In my mind, it was simple: I had a child, she had a baby. Obviously, bigger was better. I don’t remember that we ever talked about it or fought about it; it was just something I knew was true in my gut—my doll was better than my sister’s.

• ? What does “The Child” story bring up in you?

• ? What is your memory of your first Eight experience?

• ? What is it like for you to know something is true instinctively and in your gut?

TRUE SELF AND FALSE SELF: THE POWERFUL PERSON

Who we are or are not comes with expression and energy. The attitudes, behaviors, and motivations of beloved Eights convey powerful energy. Your true self emerges from union with God. It is not built by powering up and balancing the scales of justice. Your false self is the compulsive, deeply entrenched, old nature—the psychological or ego self that is constructed on a complex mixture of nature, nurture, and agency. This section will help you begin to recognize compulsive and impulsive false self reactions, as well as true self FLOW that loves God, others, and self.

True Self Eights: Sacred Strength

Eights are designed to reflect God’s strength and passion. A true self Eight has user-friendly power and intensity that serves the marginalized and needy. Eights are resourceful, decisive, and assertive. You drive hard, live large, initiate, champion, and take risks that can be noble and heroic. Passionate, earthy, and at home in the world, your presence says, “I am here!” Beloved Eights are comfortable wielding power and being in control. You prefer respect to approval. You don’t need to fill every leadership vacuum. When Eights live present to God, others, and self, you are warm, powerful, empathetic, independent, and vulnerable. As a leader, you are decisive and think about how much strength is needed in any given moment. Centered Eights embody God’s sacred strength.

Breath Prayer

In silence and solitude, ask God to help you see yourself clearly. Begin with breathing. Breathe in: “Made in God’s image,” and then breathe out: “I am not God.” Spend a few minutes with this breath prayer. Feel the goodness and freedom of being made in God’s image; feel the liberty of letting God be God. Breathe this prayer in and out throughout the day.

False Self Eights: Constrict in Control, Aggression, and Lust

Compulsive false self Eights over-identify with being strong and in control, which makes your energy user-unfriendly. Constricting around default and repetitive patterns of anger and control, you deny weakness and avoid vulnerability. This instinctive, reactive self finds it hard to soften and trust others. In your false self, Eights are unaware of how you can be aggressive, confrontational, oppressive, self-centered, self-righteous, domineering, insensitive, and prone to excess. Although lust is the vice of the Eight, we use this word to reflect the intensity or force that drives the Eight to power up and take control. These lusty, tough, bossy, “go big or go home” personalities often get things done through intimidation and autonomy rather than collaboration. You take on injustices with your own brand of justice. Eights who can’t be the boss or lead the charge may act out or pull away. If you can’t call the shots, direct the program, right the wrongs, and have the last word, you may take your marbles and leave.

??? TRUE OR FALSE SELF

As you think about your true and false self, consider these questions. Notice what comes up for you; notice without judgment. What questions particularly invite you to jot down or journal responses?

• ? How do true self Eight characteristics show up in your relationships with others?

• ? Where do false self Eight qualities show up in your relationships with others? How does anger show up? (“I’ve had enough!”) How does guilt show up? (“I haven’t done enough!”) How do you pull away or act out when you don’t have control?

• ? What makes you constrict your muscle (power and control)? What is a cue to relax your muscle?

• ? How do you feel the difference between centered, true self energy and edgy, false self energy?

Gut
Reactions to Gain
Control

This reading highlights the disciples’ gut reaction to people they couldn’t control, and Jesus’ response to resistance. Notice who he “rebukes.”

As the time approached for him to be taken up to...