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Spiritual Personalities


           Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.
          The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp.  And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.  Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.  For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. (Hebrews 13:9-14)

          I’m going through some books that deal with spiritual temperaments. One of them is called “The Sensate” and they experience closeness with God through symbols and their senses. They like communion, baptism, and liturgy. They probably like wearing a cross because it has meaning. For me, it’s an act of obedience. Judaism is replete with symbolism. In fact, that’s the author of Hebrews’ point. It’s full of images for which Jesus is the reality.
          This is a challenge we all face. We might not find meaning in symbolism. It might be something else. I regularly find myself at odds with what the book about spiritual personalities calls the Enthusiast and the Contemplative (I object to that name, but it works.) I’ll give both a stereotype from my perspective for discussion purposes. For the enthusiast, it’s all about excitement. Lights, music, raising hands and partying. For the contemplative, it’s quieter, but it’s all about the heart going pitter-patter and vacuous smiles. For both, it’s check your brain at the door (or better yet chuck it in the garbage) on your way in and don’t bother picking it up on your way out.  Of course, they look at me and think, “Heartless, cruel, unloving…. If she’d only learn to relax and just go with the feelings….”
          The people who received this letter were questioning whether they should go back to the language they knew. It was safe. But it was only one piece of the puzzle. There is a need for each spiritual temperament: Activism, Asceticism, Caregiving, Contemplatism, Enthusiasm, Intellectualism, Naturalism, Sensism and Traditionalism. But  we need to be careful not to get stuck in any of them, because each can replace God, and exclude other people.

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