Augustinian
(Calvinian) Spirituality—NF Temperament
(10%)
Higher
percentage among clergy. Creative, imaginative, verbal.
Needs: To
find meaning in everything; uses intuition and feeling
to make connection of Bible to present; sees spiritual task
as TRANSPOSING ancient
words and ideas into the present context today when
using lectio (instead of projecting
back like SJ); example: When have there been desert experiences in
my life? Combine intellectual and affective
elements,
but may make leaps other types cannot follow.
Helps: In
meditative step, ask, What did the text mean then? What
does the text mean
now? DIALOG inwardly,
and using a journal.
Franciscan
Spirituality—SP Temperament
(38%)
Active, open to serendipity of the Spirit,
impulsively generous. Kataphatic: God present in nature, people,
service to the
poor, art-icons-images.
Stifled by strict, formal routine; likes spontaneous, sensual
prayer.
Needs: To
enjoy, to give and receive gifts, CELEBRATION!
Helps: Nature,
activity, walking, body prayer and gestures, music, external aids, "icons," praying
lived experiences, “on-the-job” praying.
Example: in Holy Week, washing hands, feet, communing
at tables, nailing “sins” (written
on piece of paper) to the cross.
Thomistic
(Calvinist) Spirituality—NT Temperament
(12%)
Rational,
logical mind, orderly movement, cause and effect. Similar in approach
to the way a modern
scientist
or
physicist would
solve a problem. Intensity, discipline, no such
thing as a failed experiment—each
a rung on the ladder of knowledge!
Needs: Thinking the faith logically, theologically (C.S.Lewis).
Helps: Analogies
in meditating on an issue like faith or suffering; the spiritual
writings
of
others. Ask:
What
helps? Why? How?
Who? Where? When? (1)
Decisions:
Type Functions and the Discernment Process
E—Gets
perspective and energy from talking it out with people.
I—Gets perspective and energy from inward reflection.
S—Takes in information using ears, eyes, and
so on. Focuses on facts. May omit feelings
as part of data.
N—Takes in information through the “big picture.” Focuses
on possibilities. May omit facts as part
of data.
T—Makes decisions by considering
logical consequences, weighing pros and
cons: analysis.
F—Makes decisions by considering
feeling, person-centered values, understanding
vs. knowledge.
J—Focuses on the task of coming
to a decision; may miss spiritual growth
from the process itself.
P—Focuses on the
process of decision-making; may
have trouble coming to a decision. (2)
The
discernment process from The Spiritual
Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola
integrates both cognitive
and affective
processes,
internal
and external data, spiritual (intuitive)
and factual (sensing) experiences.
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Sources:
1.
Chester P. Michael and Marie C. Norrisey, Prayer and
Temperament: Different Prayer
Forms for Different
Personality
Types (The
Open Door, Inc., P.O. Box 855, Charlottsvile,
VA 22902, 1984).
2. Isabel Briggs Myers, Introduction
to Type (5th ed. CPP, Palo Alto,
CA).
© 1994 Kent Ira Groff, Oasis Ministries
for Spiritual Development, Inc., Camp Hill, PA 17011
Phone: (717) 737-8222. Request permission for use.
