“All that is to be understood or desired is still not God, but where mind and desire end, in that darkness, God shines.”
—Meister Eckhart
“It is not an external enemy we dread. Our foe is shut up within ourselves. An internal warfare is daily waged by us.”
― John Cassian, “Making Life a Prayer: Selected Writings”
January 21, 2024 – Sunday School – Temperament and Prayer
Dear Friends,
I hope that you are well and keeping warm in the midst of this cold weather we have in North Louisiana at the moment. Last week in our class we reviewed the basic tenants of the Myers-Briggs typology, and spoke a bit about how it has become a global movement within the world of individual discovery and team development.
From ChatGBT:
“The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) assessment is one of the world’s most popular personality tools—because it works. Used by more than 88 percent of Fortune 500 companies in 115 countries, and available in 29 languages, it has become the go-to framework for people development globally.”
We also visited the notion that persons of differing personality temperaments most likely respond differently to various worship settings, as well as types of prayer. There are perhaps discernable reasons why you might find more of one “kind” of person on the front rows of a contemporary worship service, and another “kind” of person sitting on the back row of traditional/liturgical service with no music. Different settings in which we have our conversations with God appeal to various kinds of personalities. The myriad denominational settings within which our Christian community worships is a clear indicator of such differences.
This week we will notice that with a touch of our own “eisegesis,” our own reading into scripture, with the assistance of the Myers-Briggs themes we can discern some traits within the lives of the disciples and Gospels themselves. We can also peel back some of the motivating trajectories of Christians from the earliest years through the history of the Church. Again, as I have said before, I am no psychologist or “expert” in these matters. I simply have spent a considerable amount of time pondering these matters, and have found my own inner life deeply enriched by identifying which kinds of prayer and intimacy with God match the seasons of my own spiritual journey. And as I have said, when it comes to communion with the holy presence of God – there really are no experts, only amateurs.
We will also dip our toes into a few summary assumptions that we might make about four primary temperament “types” when it comes to prayer: NF, SP, SJ, and NT. The book that we are following, “Prayer and Temperament: Different Prayer Forms For Different Personality Types,” by Michael and Norrisey, begins with a conversation about these prevailing temperaments. Please note, in the coming weeks we will look at each time individually, so don’t despair if you tested with a different combination than those listed. These are mentioned merely to create the ground for a useful conversation as we move more deeply into our own particularity and peculiarity in having contact with God.
I do hope that you will take the Myers-Briggs test by visiting the link here:
Take the MBTI Personality Test | MBTIonline
And let me know if we can help with any financial inconvenience that this might incur for you. I hope that you will join us tomorrow in the Garden Room @ 9:15 for our introductory visit, and then we will begin at 9:30.
Blessings and Godspeed,
Alston
The Carpenter's Nail 