I'm still thinking about the first chapter in our Spiritual Formation workbook. Remember the diagram that looked like a wheel? We were supposed to rate ourselves from one to ten in each of the six traditions. Inevitably we'd feel more at home in some than in others. Below the wheel, the workbook asked us, "How many feel that your 'wheel' goes bump, bump? What does that bumping make you want to do?"
The workbook seems to imply that all of us should be trying to get more comfortable and accomplished in all six areas. Do you think that's true? Why or why not?
I'm going to get a little odd here and ask Phil NOT to comment on this one right away. Phil, you've been a believer for a long time and are our spiritual leader, and are newly ordained as of today! Being a teacher myself, I know that when the teacher gives an opinion, most students simply accept that opinion and hesitate to express their own thoughts.
So, everybody else--what do you think?
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Hey Liz - I've been out of town this weekend and saw your comment right before I left to come back to NC, so I mulled it over on the way home today. Here are my initial thoughts...
My gut reaction is, "Yes, all sides should be perfectly symmetrical and equal. I should be coming up with some kind of action plan or strategy to eliminate the bumpiness in my life. Maybe I should start a spreadsheet for that..."
Then my more reasonable side takes over. This might me an inaccurate analogy, but I think that a liberal arts education might be a similar idea??? At most liberal arts schools, students choose a major, like at any other school, but then they're expected to take a bazillion other classes totally or slightly unrelated to their major/poison of choice. While it may seem pointless, by the end of the degree, hopefully the tangential, unrelated classes have informed and enhanced the students' understanding of the world and how they relate to it, and maybe those extra classes were somehow connected to the major departmental classes.
Maybe Christianity's the same way??? I certainly don't experience God on the same level when I'm trying to be "evangelical" than I do trying to be "contemplative." (The evangelical tends to be fraught with anxiety and sweaty palms to be quite honest.) And I don't think I should try to devote an equal amount of time to each tradition, since God's created me uniquely with certain strengths and weaknesses. But I do think I should at least try to experience God through my "weaker" traditions every now and then, if for nothing else that it will enhance my communication and understanding of God in my "stronger" traditions.
I don't think my wheel will ever be void of bumps. But I don't think a completely round wheel is the point of the Christian life either. I think the traditions are just a means to depend evermore on God.
Does that make sense? Anyways, I'm gonna be late to quilt guild. I better go. I might add more later if I can get my thoughts more focused and organized.
Geez, that ended up being kinda long. I probably should have started a new post...
I think you're right Liz, I ought to withhold my view!
I think we should want to do all the things out of love for God. I don't know if the idea of a rating is the best since we naturally compare ourselves to those around us. We also have positive and negative sterotypes, experiences, desires, and opinions that cause us to favor certain disciplines over another. I also don't think that we should feel pressured or obligated to obey one tradition, but I think that we should want to practice them all to honor and worship God.
I think that although it might be ideal to be well-rounded and not "bumpy," the problem with this approach is that you can be just as "un-bumpy" with all ones on the wheel as you can with all tens. Obviously, that's not what the authors are trying to get across, but it is still a valid point. I think it is more important to practice and excel in the areas that God has gifted you in while not forgetting about the other areas. God has gifted all of us in particular areas, and if one person is not gifted in a particular area, God will provide someone who can fill in that deficit (see 1 Cor. 12, Rom 12) For instance what if there are two people - one is a great prayer warrior, and one is a great evangelist. But maybe they are not as accomplished in the other area. Does that mean that the prayer warrior should never evangelize and the evangelist should never pray? Absolutely not. However, we shouldn't neglect the areas in which we naturally excel and concentrate on the areas that we aren't as comfortable in just so our wheels won't be bumpy. We need to increase our proficiency in all areas, but they are always going to be at different levels just because of our personalities and the way God has made us.
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