This past Wednesday was my twenty-sixth wedding anniversary. Three years ago, we were celebrating our twenty-third and our in-laws’ fiftieth in Hawaii when I woke up to something decidedly less celebratory. Ever since the Pulse shooting in Orlando in 2016, our marriage has joined hands with a gruesome tragedy. Each year, as we’re getting dressed up for a nice dinner, …
She Was There
Who the hell is Mary Magdalene? James was the brother of Jesus, the head of the church in Jerusalem, but he is nowhere to be found on Easter morning. Paul was the founder of all the Gentile churches across the Mediterranean, but Easter morning found him still busy persecuting anyone who wasn’t Jewish enough. And Peter was the head of …
A Reconsideration of the Head
We wrap up our Sunday School discussion of the Enneagram this week with repressed thinking (Enneagram Ones, Twos, and Sixes.) I mean, we thought about it, but the topic was repressed thinking. Each week, we have explored the three intelligence centers, the three ways of knowing: the Body, the Heart, and the Head. For each of us, one is dominant …
Revenge of the Heart
We continue our look at the Enneagram’s repressed centers of intelligence this week by returning to the Heart. Just as some are overdeveloped in the kind of relational and emotional intelligence of the Heart, some are underdeveloped. (These are enneagram Threes, Sevens, and Eights.) This repression of feelings has as much to do with sustaining personality as our dominant center. …
Return of the Body
This week, we began our look at repressed intelligence centers starting with the Body. (Fours, Fives, and Nines on the Enneagram.) The repressed center is the one that is repeatedly wounded, so that we quickly figure out it is not the one to get our needs met. When the Body is repressed, a person will tend to withdraw from the …
The Forgotten One
The last three weeks in Sunday School, we have talked about the three centers of intelligence, the three ways of knowing, presented in the framework of the Enneagram. Of the Body, Heart, and Head, one is dominant. This might sound good, like being strong in the Body makes us an athlete, strong in the Heart gives us good at relationships, …
The Head
The Body wants to be free; the Heart wants to be loved; and the Head wants to be secure. The Head is the source of security. At our best, it gives us a deep, inner knowing that allows us to trust ourselves. However, when the personality gets hold of the Head, our thinking becomes disordered and unproductive. We don’t trust …
The Heart
Just as the Body is the source of presence, the Heart is the source of identity. In the Heart space we ask the big questions of identity: Who am I? What is my value? Unfortunately, we do not believe that we can be loved or valued for ourselves, so our ego forms around the affirmation and attention of the world. …
The Body
Much of the current Christian politial discourse centers on the body: gender, sexuality, abortion, sexual abuse. In the Christian tradition, the body has generally been denigrated, viewed with suspicion. It is seen as temporary vehicle for the soul to be eschewed when we are ready for the real stuff. But it’s worth remembering that God created that body for something and, …
Finding Balance, Introduction
The Christian faith, as I see it, is two parallel journeys. One is a journey inward to the peace of God’s presence within us. The other is a journey outward, making God’s peace and justice present in the world. This Lent, we’re going to spend some time on the inward journey. To do this, we’re going to try out some …