#alice fryling

[greathotshave]

Book Review: Mirror for the Soul

Once I understood the framework of how my Enneagram 7 space operates, I was better able to see why some people will avoid confrontations at almost any cost while I am somewhat comfortable with them.  They just aren’t wired the same way I am. We go through life with a general assumption that we are all alike but so many times this assumption trips us up because we aren’t. As Alice Fryling explains in her marvelous Mirror for the Soul, while we all have many gifts, in each of us one particular gift outshines the others and plays a definitive role in our spiritual formation. The Enneagram provides a dynamic map of nine different spaces that are nearly analogous to the fruits of the spirit given in the Bible.

Alice makes no assumptions, taking the reader through a brief understanding of the history of the Enneagram and then step by graceful step expanding on how this tool for reflecting on one’s soul journey can deepen self awakening and encourage self growing. After each chapter, she provides questions to encourage group reflections on the material as well as a personal meditation for going deeper with the wisdom shared. This a truly contemplative approach, allowing each reader to digest what was presented and proceed at their own pace.

As Alice approaches all things whether she is writing or leading a workshop, she allows a spaciousness for self reflection. She provides many personal interactions from life as a spiritual director to illustrate how the Enneagrammatic framework can open one to a better understanding that begins inward and works outward.

As you proceed through the book, each Enneagram space describes a virtue, a gift from God, how that gift is overplayed by the false self, and by what grace ones true self, in a never-ending struggle, displaces the false self. For instance, my seven space is of Joy, a self-evident virtue. When it’s overplayed, I get caught up in a gluttonous anticipation of joy-giving activities in denial of any suffering that comes into my life. The gluttony aspect of the seven space isn’t just about activities that could be viewed as bad (alcohol/drugs, gambling, etc.) but good things (reading the Bible to the exclusion of works that encourage critical thinking, participating in every mission offered at church) that blots out the needs of people around me and makes me falsely believe that everything is okay. The grace that brings me back is Sobriety, the ability to take only what I need, to see the false self and not deny it but keep it in check by owning it.

Much more qualified people, like Richard Rohr and Jerome Wagner, who have written and taught the Enneagram, have praised this book. Rohr calls it a rich and unique contribution to Enneagram literature.” Wagner writes, “(Mirror for the Soul) is at the crossroads where the Enneagram and Christianity meet.”

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of Alice’s book with the express idea that I would write about it. Jessie and I have known Alice and Bob Fryling for close to 20 years! I have been to several of the workshops she has given with Jessie, even helping play the videos. Alice was an indirect influence on my taking the Christos Tending the Holy program and becoming a spiritual director. So, of course she helped change my life for the better. As a result, I am sure this book can have an influence on your life for the better.

[jacciturner]

Spiritual Practice: Reading

  Sometimes the best spiritual practices are the ones that we don’t even notice because we do them naturally. Reading is like that for me, although I was a reluctant reader as a child. One day my best friend, Julia, introduced me to “horse books.” It was all I needed to become a lifelong lover of reading!

Fast forward twenty years and I had moved with my new husband to Reno, Nevada and it was…

[faithfulnews]

Christian Living E-Book Sale: May 16/20

In this grab bag, we have 9 e-books. The prices and sale dates that they have provided are under each book cover. $2.99 $4.99 Ends May 31 $0.79 Ends May 19 $0.99 Ends May 19 $3.99 Ends May 20 $4.99 Ends May 20 $5.99 Ends May 20 $4.99 Ends May 20 $3.99 Ends May 20 Click the following post title to view these deals with the purchase links: Christian Living E-Book Sale: May 16/20

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[leonbloder]

What I See In You, I See In Me

"Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?"

- Matthew 7:3

Nearly twenty years ago, as part of a spiritual retreat, I met a man named Dale, who was one of the most loving people I've ever known.  

Dale was one of the leaders of the retreat, and he was instrumental in my coming to terms with my own spiritual and religious baggage.  And I had a lot of baggage.  

I learned a phrase from Dale that has stuck with me all through the years:  "What I see in you, I see in me." Dale would quietly insert this phrase every time we would start to rail about the difficult people in our lives.  

Me: "He is so frustrating...he never listens to me, and then always wants to give me advice."

Dale: "What I see in you, I see in me."  

Me: "That woman drives me crazy, she’s so full of himself."

Dale: "What I see in you, I see in me."  

What Dale was doing each time he did this was providing us with a grace-filled reminder that we needed to be self-examined before we began to examine others.  

He didn't say it exactly, but he was helping us to remember the words of Jesus to get the big log out of our own eyes before we began pointing out the speck of dust in the eyes of others.  

What I've come to learn is that until we are honest about our own brokenness and frailty we aren't able to fully experience and share the great love that God is constantly pouring out into the world all around us.    

Alice Fryling once wrote:

Our spiritual blind spots are not just a matter of stumbling and bruising the knees of our soul.  Our blind spots keep us from knowing the love of God

I constantly need to be reminded that the specks I see in the eyes of others---the traits, foibles, and nuances that cause me to rise up in anger, to feel frustrated, ashamed or confused--are the very things that are most likely logs in my own eye.  

May you take the time today to examine the blind spots in your life.  May you do the hard work of self-examination that is truly an act of self-love.  May you begin to see yourself in others and find peace and joy in those intimate connections.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.

[m-usings]

"The true self knows that it is created to experience & express love... we are free, only limited by God's love."

Alice Fryling

[jacciturner]

Interested in the #enneagram? You’ll love this book! Pre-order now.