Spiritual type

As you’ll probably have guessed if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, I’m fond of various on-line quizzes.

I found this one at the Vision Vocation Network, which has many items of general interest on prayer and spirituality, although its primary purposes is determining the question of monastic vocation.

This particular quiz asks “What is your spirituality type?” I found the answer quite illuminating and true of me:

The Path of Devotion (Augustinian prayer)

The majority of saints are of this spiritual temperament as well as 12 percent of the population (but half of those who go on retreats or belong to small faith groups).

This method uses creative imagination to transpose the world of scripture to our situation today – as if the scripture passage is a personal letter from God addressed to each one of us (like Saint Augustine picking up Romans 13 and reading a message pointed directly at him). The essential element of this spirituality, going back to New Testament times (Jesus, Saint Paul, the early church fathers), is experiencing a personal relationship with God. Because they read between the lines and catch what is inexpressible and spiritual, those who follow the path of devotion best understand symbols and their use in the liturgy.

This path concentrates on meditations that loosen the feelings and expand the ability to relate to and love others. The stress is on the love of self, others and God. Those on this path can follow the four steps of the Lectio Divina: listen to what God says in scripture; reflect prayerfully and apply it to today; respond to God’s word with personal feelings; remain quiet and stay open to new insights.

I particularly relate to the second paragraph about loosening the feelings and expanding the ability to relate to and love others. I’m an Enneagram Three type, and we have difficulty with feelings. In our workaholic rush to achieve, to compete and prove ourselves in various ways, we compartmentalise feelings until sometimes we mislay the ability to feel. There remain times in my life when I look to others for cues on how I ’should’ be feeling. Sometimes I know I’m ‘having an emotion’ but it can be days until I work out what it is.

I’ve always found Lectio Divina a particularly helpful form of prayer, and the description above is helpful in understanding why.

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