A Prayer Review of My Boise Thursday through Sunday Adventure (Examen)

I have not published a "Prayerful Review (Examen)" in over a year. I was doing all of these at Examen.me, but the site closed down. Thankfully I was able to download all of my examen prayers and journaling from the Spiritual Exercises last year. I have been journaling the Exercises for this year in my journal notebbook, but I was in the mood to do it here today. 

I thought through each day at the beginning of my prayer every morning (yes, many do this at night. I usually do it mid-day and then the rest of the day the next morning. Freedom to do it any way your heart wants to. No legalism here.) while I was in Boise, but I did not necessarily write anything down.

Holy Spirit, I pray you would shed light on my weekend and help me to see my days through your eyes. 

What I am grateful for: a smooth trip to Boise and back via Alaska Airlines, that I flew instead of drove because it did end up snowing, gracious hospitality of Debbie Brizee Budwig and transportation to and from cohort from Debbie and Michelle, Sustainable Faith School of Spiritual Direction , the leadership of Sandy and Marty Boller , and the Boise Cohort (to use Kayla's terms, It is "the bomb.com."), a great end to my Fall term classes, getting my grades in before I left, packing light, dinner with Michelle (and family) and Val.

Review of the Thursday-Sunday: 
Thursday: up early, prayer, baked cookies for 100% attendance students, pack 90%, bike to campus, teach Pilates I and II (KK helped me with my stereo problems so I gave her the extra cookies), Cardio Weight training (cookies to Nick for such great leadership in the class), bike home, enter grades, let Jeff park his trailer and visit, shower, pack last 10%, Geo home, drive and dinner at Parkstone Wood Kitchen , Listen to The Great Alone , fly to Boise, Debbie's house and talking till 12.

Friday: prayer, Debbie drove me to Nampa for training but early so I walked for 30 minutes. The 8a-4:30p training consisted of breakfast and lunch (with a walk to Dutch Bros for Eggnog Chai Latte with cinnamon, oh my - "Christmas in a Cup"), "How are you landing?" exercise, Lectio Divina in Romans 8, discussion of Holy Listening, Summary Reflections for our last two months (consisting of questions about how our spiritual disciplines are going, sessions with our spiritual director and directees, how we can pray, and what our questions or conundrums are), and preview of the books for our next module in January,  Debbie pick me up, have salad and turkey sausage and talk, talk, talk, talk to George about being nervous about spiritual direction triads, sleep.

Saturday: woke up having had an anxiety dream about a man being in my house and grabbing me, but I fought back and tied him up, prayer, snow Michelle and Val picked me up (good discussion), breakfast, Spiritual Mapping Exercise (so good - I will keep that one), Spiritual Direction Triad with Michelle and Val (it turned out great - I shared about my Spiritual Mapping Exercise, and did direction with Michelle because I was curious about something she said the day before, Val did it with me, and Michelle did it with Val), evaluation of the triad time, lunch, discussion of Anatomy of the Soul (I cried when I shared about what he said about how art, music, dance, etc. integrates the brain circuitry), Gene's book report on Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and my book report on The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, dinner with Michelle (and family), Val, talk with Debbie and Ralph at home.

Sunday: Prayer and MORE SNOW, Ralph drove me to airport, plane delayed for de-icing but the two flights before me were canceled, reviewed my graces from the beginning of the SEEL Retreat on plane, IKEA for spiritual direction chairs for my office, dinner at same restaurant, home, cookie, catch up on news, read The Great Alone, asleep by 9 pm.

What made me feel most alive and in tune with God's plan?

• Doing Spiritual Direction training with like-hearted people.
• Doing Lectio Divina and "Spiritual Mapping."
• Visiting with Val and Michelle in the car before and after training
• Walking to Dutch Bros and drinking a Eggnog Chai Latte!
• Walking during the breaks to have "I" time and connect to become more self-aware of how God is moving in me during the training.
• Catching myself drifting when the discussion got very intellectual - going interior to explore my feeling (integrating to a Type 4) and hearing God and restoring to peace.
• Knowing I left the Renovaré Institute for a good alternative! (The choice between two very good things is always hart)
• Feeling certain of my decision to discontinue one of my Pilates Classes during the "Spiritual Mapping" exercises.
• Sharing with the group about the integration of art, music, dance, etc. during the Anatomy of the Soul discussion (after it had gotten very intellectual) and crying and having Trina ask me what touched me and me being able to share about dance for me and how Chagall's American Windows (if you click on it, it enlarges and you can get even closer to it with the + and -, but they are most enjoyed in person) drop on the floor and sob at the Art Institute of Chicago. Afterward, Sandy and Michelle and I got into a talk about dancing and going to art galleries, and musicals (Les Miserables, Lion King) and how they touch our souls. 
• Talking with Debbie before and after each training - so good for integrating my brain circuitry and also sharing some stories
• SNOW and thankful I did not have to drive in it.
• Finishing well with Pilates I and II and my coworkers at OSU. Deciding FOR SURE that the other job is just not life-giving for me and knowing that I have other things that God wants me to be doing during those times. 
• Reuniting with George and having dinner and debrief - he is my bestie of all besties and the love of my life
• Seeing Paul when I got back (but no Michael because he had already left for home)
• Having Michelle and Val be so interested in me and my life and dinner with them and Michelle's family
• Walking away from an overly intellectual discussion
• George praying for my back to quit being "wonky" after my first day in Boise and waking up to it being just fine.

What made me feel most dead and not in tune with God's plan?

• Stressing about the Triads 
• Nightmare about the Triads 
• Starting to stress about the intellectual direction of the discussion on Saturday
• Intellectual discussions still make me feel dead inside - I feel like they take away from soul discussion and sometimes are a smoke screen
• The Great Alone - the Playaway player kept stopping and losing my place so I could not listen to it on the plane, but I also am not really overly excited about this book. It is pretty depressing and not compelling. I am wondering where the redemption will be in it - but I am a really DARK part of the book that I really do not like what happened, but I am too far to not finish it now. 
• Feeling frustrated with the woman who kept elbowing me while she played a Candy Crush-like game on her phone with no awareness that her elbow was into my sitting space (but I was brave and asked her to move it over a little bit, and she didn't seem to mind at all - so that was life-giving).

Ways to show my love for God and others today:

Follow through on Christmas giving in lieu of presents to my side of the family.

Finish out December well for my Pilates students. Love them and see them as image bearers. 

Gifts God has given not already covered in feeling alive:

Christmas break from OSU!

Chants: Music for the Soul by Cistercian Monks!

The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola

Chai tea in a Christmas Cup!

That was fun to evaluate everything!

Type Twos go to Type Four in Integration

So I am looking at the healthy loop of the Type Four today. This is probably why I like personality tests so much because they help me to be more self-aware. :) 

Here is the healthy loop of a Type Four:

Healthy loop controlled by Basic Desire:

Need for self-understanding -> examine self -> understand themselves -> Need for self-understanding

In the healthy state, the need for self-understanding induces Type Fours to allow their emotions to surface and examine these emotions in order to understand themselves. (This is probably why I love the Examen so much!) When Fours achieve self-understanding, their need is satisfied and a balance is reached.

Wednesday Morning Freewrite

I have loved doing these Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola again this year. I loved it last year through Creighton University Online Retreat, but I love doing it where I have a spiritual director that I meet with every other week and a cohort of people with a small "Sacred Listening" group of 10 people (three of whom are directors of the other seven). And the best part is doing it with my sweet, gentle giant of a husband: GEORGE (DGG is my nickname for him - Diplomatic Gentle Giant)! The face-to-face contact with others in the journey make it that much sweeter. I am so thankful that there is a program here in Oregon even though we have to commute there twice a month for our spiritual direction and the monthly retreat (www.seelportland.org). It is so worth it.

So, what am I learning. Well, Mike, my spiritual director, almost became a Jesuit priest. So he so knows his stuff and is an older man (I would say he is in his mid- to late- sixties) who is steeped in these Exercises. He gives me things to meditate on, and I meditate and share every other week.

The "Preparation Week" (which is more than a week) was all about looking at the Principles and Foundation of the exercises and praying through my "Graced History" year by year. It was so good! I did this last year, and it made me sad, but this year, I was so hopeful and grateful for the "mothers" that God gave me throughout my journey! Then he gave me verses on God's love: "OH the overwhelming, never ending, restless love of God!" 

Then in light of that "LOVE BUBBLE" I looked at that Graced History and saw patterns of sin in the "first week" of the Exercises. That was so healthy and freeing for me. I had a SIN PATTERN from last year, but God brought me so much deeper still with underlying causes of these, and this coincided with me understanding my Enneagram Type 2 and the sin patterns associated with this that I wholeheartedly concur with. I was able to embrace those patterns and be up front with God about them. Giving them to Him to CONCEAL rather than me concealing them from Him. I had lots of confession and also forgiving of people. This also coincided with our Kingdom Community doing the Knowing Rediscovered videos by my friends! It all just gelled so beautifully together. 

Now, I am on the beginning of the "Second Week," and I have been steeping myself in the "Call of the King" where I imagine myself before a wonderful, kind, benevolent earthly king who calls me to great things. Then I imagine myself before the King of kings! Mike has kept me in this for quite a while since I went on to the sin patterns naturally and slightly ahead of the liturgical year where we hit the Incarnation and Nativity at Christmas. That is OK though because the "Call of the King" has made me stop and think about fears I have because I think that I am afraid to approach some people about what I feel like God is calling me to, and someone that I thought might be an "in" to this sort of blew me off! LOL! What is so great is that I did not take this personally, and I did not think I was "unwanted and unloved" (as is typical for a Type 2)! I just said, "Hmm. 'When God closes a door, somewhere He opens a window" (God even had The Sound of Music on TV the day I got blown off!). So I am GOOD, and I may just have another trail to blaze. It is all good! 

Well, I better go. It has been fifteen minutes. I am thinking about doing a VLOG regarding these Exercises. 

51. Educated: A Memoir

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Best book of 2018 for me. I really, really loved it, and I could not put it down. Read it in 24 hours. She was raised in a dysfunctional Mormon survivalist family in Idaho. It is journey out through education. The writing is really well done. I highly recommend this book. 

50. Becoming Dallas Willard by Gary W. Moon

Word cannot express how much I loved this biography. Gary Moon offers it with such love and affection for this wonderful man. This is a Renovare Book Club pick.  

Update: I led a discussion with six people. It was such a great discussion, and I had narrowed down the questions that the author gave in supplementary material for the book club. So I am going to put them here in case you ever read the book and want to think about your own spiritual formation. 

I.      NATURE/NURTURE/CULTURE: “Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.” (Parker Palmer)  What is your life telling you about your deepest desires?

1. NATURE: How has your nature (e.g. temperament, learning style, etc.) become part of your becoming?
2. NURTURE: How has the image of one of your parents (or grandparents) contributed to forming your image of God?
3. CULTURE: What do you carry with you from the early years of your church-life experience that continues to help shape your spiritual formation? What aspects have you needed to rethink, or find for yourself?

II.     WORK/FAMILY/MINISTRY: Three Stages for Living a with-God Life. How is the drama of your with-God Life playing out on the stages of work, family, and ministry?

1. WORK: What aspects of your work-life are/were you most grateful and which pose/posed the biggest challenge to your Christian life?
2. FAMILY: How do you see God’s hand in your family relationships?
3. MINISTRY: Is there something you have come to understand or to do that helps you see the image of God in every person you meet? If yes, please explain. (I have an exercise attached that I did last December for the Renovaré Institute, and I thought it would be perfect for you as you head into this December! It was written by Jan Johnson who was mentored by Dallas Willard. Enjoy!)

III.    FINISHING WELL: Ideas for Time and Eternity/Intentionality in Living the “With God” Life/Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines/Loving God Flowing to Loving Neighbor

1. At your stage of life, how are you intentionally living in light of eternity? (I attached praxis exercises for Psalm 23 and the Lord’s Prayer. Practices by Dallas mentioned in the book)
2. What are some barriers you have experienced for being able to life in love with God and neighbor as you go through the day? What are your ideas for bursting out of those barriers?

52. The Enneagram and Prayer by Metz and Burchill

Stephen Coffey, OSB Cam, an ordained monk of the Camaldolese community of California led the "Appreciating the Wisdom of the Enneagram" Conference at the Queen of Angels Monastery in November, and this was recommended to us. At first perusal, I didn't really like it, but it has great depth and gave me insight into helpful prayer practices for people. I really ended up loving it!

ETERNAL LORD OF ALL THINGS

I feel Your gaze on me.
I sense that with You are all the great beings of heaven --
angels and powers and martyrs and saints.
Lord Jesus, I think You have put a desire in me.
If You will help me, please,
I would like to make my offering:
I want it to be my desire, and my choice,
provided that You want it, too,
to live my life as You lived Yours.
I know that You lived an insignificant person
in a little, despised town;
I know that You rarely tasted luxury and never, privilege,
and that You resolutely refused to accept power.
I know that You suffered rejection by leaders,
abandonment by friends, and failure.
I know. I can hardly bear the thought of it all.
But it seems a toweringly wonderful thing
that You might call me to follow You and stand with You.
I will labor with You to bring God's reign,
if You will give me the gift to do it. Amen. 

49. The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith

From Publisher: The Critical Journey, at its core, is a description of the spiritual journey: our response to our faith in God with the resulting changes that follow. In this book, authors Hagberg and Guelich address the following issues: the struggle to find meaning and wholeness, the crisis of values and identity at mid-life, the quest for self-actualization, the healing of early religious experiences, and questions about the spiritual journey. Their goal is to help us understand where we are on our individual faith journeys and also appreciate where others are in theirs. The Critical Journey does not reveal exactly how or when we need to move along in our personal pilgrimages, nor does it offer formulas for spiritual growth. Rather, it describes six phases of the spiritual journey and illustrates how people act and think while in these stages. This is an excellent guide for those who are wrestling with their faith and wondering how others have resolved their “dark nights of the soul.” Here is an answer for those who have wondered why everyone doesn’t respond in the same manner to the message of the Gospel. 

I found the stages somewhat obvious, except the part about "The Wall." That part was really wonderful. I also felt like there was quite a bit of redundancy as the stages are described again at a later time. I think a good updated edit is in order for this book. 

Also, I bought the Kindle, but it is a copy of the original book and not in Kindle format. So that made highlighting more difficult, and I am still not sure how the notes will export! I should have just bought the regular hard cover book. 

Nurturing From a King

Type Two EnneaThought® for November 14th
When Twos learn to nurture themselves and look after their own needs, they achieve a balance in which loving and satisfying relationships are not only possible—they will happen as surely as the sun rises. Presence alone will allow your nurturing of others to transform into genuine self-nurturing. (The Wisdom of the Enneagram, 149)

This has been such a lovely season for me of achieving balance. I am loving my time in the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. I prefer not to call it "self-nurturing" but "nurturing from God." God is speaking to me! I also love the balance of exercise (which is also my work) and sitting for ministry and writing (my other work).  It is a good season. 

This week, I am at the "Call of the King" in the Exercises, and the free conversation "My Liege" and I are having are so precious. I am growing. I am learning. I like that this never stops with the LORD! I am excited to hear what He has in store for me. I trust Him because He is a good and benevolent King! 

Friday Fifteen Minute Freewrite

So much to say and so little time to say it. I have been lax in my freewrites lately. I love them so. The queen of the freewrites just had a birthday. We still love each other, but she doesn't really have time for me anymore, and I am so happy for her success in life and happy for the role I played in her journey and she in mine. Because she "doesn't have time" for me doesn't mean that I am unloved or unwanted. Something I am learning the Enneagram Type Two personality type. I have to let go of the fear that I am unloved and unwanted. I also need to go after what I want, and I don't think I necessarily want the deep relationship that we once had. I really love her, but we are going in different directions. We will definitely meet up and have a lovefest when we meet again (which I am sure will happen), but she is not a day to day friend, and that is OK! 

So today has been a phenomenal day. Because George listened to God and God told him to ask for every Friday to work from home instead of up in Hillsboro. I have him home from Thursday night to Monday morning. How cool is that! I love him at home. What a gift!

I am also over the moon because I am on Day 100 of recording my eating and exercise. I have a whole new WONDERFUL Lose It! online community of friends. That one person who rejected me (twice) and would nag at me about not recording daily is not in my friends anymore. That person was so shaming and guilt producing and not encouraging.  I only have one mutual friend with her now, and I left the other group we were mutually a part of so that I don't have to interact with her anymore. I am so glad that I came back. Some of my old friends are still there and really, really encouraging. It also helped to get the AppleWatch which is all connected to the website so I don't have to log in all my activities on the website. It also does not start subtracting exercise calories for each activity I do until I reach a certain calorie level. So I am not faked into believing I can eat more because of my exercise. It is so good, and I have gotten rid of all the weight that I gained for being in Renovare.

I guess that is the last thing I want to freewrite about. I loved the people and the curriculum, but it was not for me. Every day I would do the Examen and DESOLATION was always overeating. I also left Renovare 100 Days ago, and I have not struggled ONE DAY with overeating since I left, and I think it was connected. It caused me a lot of underlying anxiety. The way the community and small groups are set up was not what made me thrive spiritually. The academic nature was not what I wanted or needed. All the sitting writing papers and interacting online was brining me out of the sacred balance I had cultivated in my life. So leaving was the BEST decision I made of 2018, and the second and third best were doing Spiritual Direction training through The School of Sustainable Faith AND doing the SEEL Portland retreat with George. It is all SO GOOD. I am at the end of my 15 minutes, but it is a great day with great decisions all the way. 

God is so good. 

(No proofreading here)


The overall keynote of Twos is indirection. Personal needs and desires are expressed indirectly, through service to others. Twos feel that they cannot go after what they want directly: it must be given to them by others as a sign that they are really loved and appreciated. Notice today when you are being indirect. (Understanding the Enneagram, 78)

48. What's Your Decision? How to Make Choices with Confidnece and Clarity

This book had a little bit more meat to it than the other book on Ignatian discernment that I read earlier this year when it was part of my spiritual direction curriculum. This is the replacement, and I think it is a good choice. 

The authors do a great job of explaining the principles of decision making that Ignatius laid out in the Spiritual Exercises. I particularly liked that they used scenarios and walked you through the principles for each scenario. It was quite helpful. 

What is so funny is that I went to a "Wisdom of the Enneagram" Seminar, and the Catholic priest who taught it tied the Enneagram types and Ignatian principles of discernment together. I thought that was providential that I happened to reading this book at the same time! 

47. Funny in Farsi

This is an easy and fun read. I read it in 2014. My book club was looking for something that would make them laugh after reading so many "heavy" books on World War II last year. So I suggested this. I love Iranian people and the book gives you insight into their wonderful, family-oriented culture.  It was the delightful, funny antics of a family who moved to Southern California in the 1970s. I highly recommend this book. (I was crushed that the Book Babes did not really care for it when I recommended it later for my Book Club.) 

EnneaThought® for the Day Type Two EnneaThought® for November 4th Today, can you discover positive qualities in yourself that you have not developed yet? Healthy Twos have immense goodwill and generosity of spirit. They are attracted to spiritual values such as love of God and neighbor, loving others as themselves, and forgiving others. (The Power of the Enneagram audiotapes)

Holy Will

Type Two EnneaThought® for October 27th

The Holy Idea for Type Two is Holy Will, which means you can relax your efforts because everything really is "in God's hands." See if you can connect with this truth today. (Understanding the Enneagram, 42) 

So I had to understand what the "Holy Idea" thing was. It is a another concept I hope to understand better when I go to the Enneagram Seminar next week. Here is what this website says: 

"The Holy Ideas of the Enneagram are in service to the alleviation of suffering and the recovery of our true nature through remembering our Essence qualities.  The Holy Ideas remind us of who we truly are beyond our attachments and identification with the construct of the egoic mind.  As we observe our attachments and defense of the ego we become aware of the ways that we suffer.  We can choose to end our suffering.  Suffering is truly optional.  Pain is endemic to the human condition and must be faced squarely and experienced.  Suffering results from clinging to the dualistic, fixated patterns of believing that things are right/wrong (Type 1), that we are loved/unloved (Type 2), successful/unsuccessful (Type 3), abandoned/connected (Type 4), depleted/abundant (Type 5), unsafe/safe (Type 6), limited/free (Type 7), controlled/in control (Type 8) and important/unimportant (Type 9)." 

Here is what it says regarding this Holy Idea for Type 2:



"The experience of surrender is at the heart of Holy Will.  We surrender the illusion that our personal efforts are required to make good things happen.  As we loosen the belief that we are indispensable to making good things happen for others, and that we must manipulate to create good things for ourselves through the force of our personality, we become more humble.  Humility places us in proper perspective [to God] (the Enneagram Institute says to the Universe). Personal will attaches to outcome and we suffer through this attachment.  Through recognizing Holy Will and living in humility there is an awareness that things will always be taken care of."

Learning this concept is perfectly timed after ten days of "praying toward the peace" with a situation I learned about on Wednesday, October17 . I have arrived at a place of true surrender. God told me, up front, that a person's problems were not my issue and to let it go, but I had to pray through my feelings and continue to listen. So I have let it go (and feel nothing but compassion and love for that person's problems). This is my surrender. My personal efforts are not required to make the situation any better for that person. Humility is the realization that He is God and I am not. Selah! 

46. The Practice of Spiritual Direction by William A. Barry and William J. Connolly

These two authors are sages in spiritual direction. I found their wisdom engaging, and it added to my knowledge in the field. I am eating all of this reading up! So glad I made the switch to this curriculum for personal growth.  I also liked that they are Ignatian in their spiritual direction. 

Here is the definition of Spiritual Direction from the book:

Spiritual direction is “help given by one Christian to another which enables that person to pay attention to God’s personal communication to him or her, to respond to this personally communicating God, to grow in intimacy with this God, and to live out the consequences of the relationship.”

Spiritual direction focuses on religious experience. It is concerned with a person’s actual experience of a relationship with God.

Spiritual direction is about a relationship. The religious experience is not isolated, nor does it consist of extraordinary events. It is what happens in an ongoing relationship between the person and God. Most often this is a relationship that is experienced in prayer.

Spiritual direction is a relationship that is going somewhere. God is leading the person to deeper faith and more generous service. The spiritual director asks not just “what is happening?” but “what is moving forward?”

The real spiritual director is God. God touches the human heart directly. The human spiritual director does not “direct” in the sense of giving advice and solving problems. Rather, the director helps a person respond to God’s invitation to a deeper relationship.

As we grow older . . . we must move towards forgiveness, towards letting go and accepting responsibility for our lives at the present moment. This means letting go of grudges and resentments that drag us back into the past and sap our enthusiasm for the present and future. Forgiveness and letting go free us from the endless repetition of past stories of injustice and hurt that we tell as if they were the events of yesterday.

. . . But perhaps the greatest and most difficult challenge of later life is to forgive ourselves. We are called upon to forgive our own failings and mistakes and sins, and to love ourselves as God loves us. Forgiving ourselves means letting go of our regrets, accepting our limitations, and coming to peace with the decisions and actions that we can no longer change. Forgiving ourselves is the final fruit of accepting God’s forgiveness, and the only path to peace.

“The Spiritual Exercises and a Spirituality for the Later Years” by Gerald M. Fagin, SJ

45. Seeking God Together: An Introduction to Group Spiritual Direction

This was probably my favorite book about spiritual direction. It was simple and practical not just for group but for individual spiritual direction.

44. The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call of Self-Discovery

43. The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self Discovery

This is my second time through this book, and it helped so much to do so. I listened to it last time. This time I combined listening with my Kindle Book, and I made highlights. This quote about my Enneagram Type Two really confirmed my decision to leave the Renovaré Institute. I needed a smaller group so I could work on my soul. The needs in that Institute were too overwhelming for me. I have found my people with the Spiritual Direction Boise Cohort! 

"If Twos are going to learn how to attend to their own needs as much as they pay attention to the needs of other people, they have to work on their soul in solitude. If they try to do this work in community they’ll be tempted to help those around them grow spiritually rather than focus on their own development. In this situation Twos’ tendency to drop everything to help people in crisis is more a defense against facing their own needs and feelings than an act of service. In their time with God they might ask themselves, Who am I when no one needs me?"

“A humble self-knowledge is a surer way to God than a search after deep learning.” Thomas À Kempis

41. Anatomy of the Soul

This is a reread because it is part of my Module II for Spiritual Direction training. I thought it was more fascinating the second time around when I took notes. 

I love how he has spiritual disciplines to go along with what he is explaining is going on in your brain. I especially liked how he talked about how brains can be changed when we tell our story to an empathetic listener. I have long believed in the power of story. This just added to my conviction about this. 

Anatomy of the Soul (xiv) – “an important part of how people change—not just their experiences, but also their brains—is through the process of telling their stories to an empathic listener. When a person tells her story and is truly heard and understood, both she and the listener undergo actual changes in their brain circuitry. They feel a greater sense of emotional and relational connection, decreased anxiety, and greater awareness of and compassion for others’ suffering . . . Dr. Siegel labeled the change ‘increased integration.’” 

42. Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All the Difference

  This is about not being angry, surrendering all in humility, and loving God and others. It had some endearing stories and the author is pretty funny. 

Addendum:

I had not been offended for quite a while. Wouldn't you know the DAY after reading this book something happened that probably would have offended anymore, but I am SO GLAD I had just read this book because I was able (by God's grace) to not be offended and respond in compassion and love. Perfectly timed book! 

40. Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction

I didn't particularly feel like this book added anything new to my understanding of spiritual direction. I think maybe this was included in my curriculum because she was such an early pioneer in the resurgence of this practice among the lay people. I liked Sacred Companions and Candlelight much better. Also, she has a decidedly liberal bent that I found distracting in the book. 

“The greatest gift the director can bring is a loving presence.” (p. 135)

Tuesday Twelve: In Praise of Good Decisions

This is my praise for making a good decision. I just did not feel right in the Institute I was a part of. I know the majority of the people in that Institute are having a phenomenal time, and I do not knock their experience of it. We are so uniquely created. In addition, our histories are all varied and different.

As I have gone through my overlapping Sacred Story (for Spiritual Direction Training Boise Cohort) and Graced History (for the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life Portland Cohort), I realize how incredibly blessed I have been with mentors and friends. Right after having made a total surrender and commitment to God at 19 years old, God brought me these wonderful wise women and men who taught me to dig deeper into my relationship with God. I think this is what the Institute was trying to do, giving people what they didn't have in the beginning of their journey. I was unusual in that I had it, and it was FREE whereas the Institute was NOT FREE. It was also not as personal as I would have liked it, and there were not personal mentors like I had the first time around. There were teachers who taught in an academic way. That was not what I wanted or needed. I have already been blessed in that way. Now it was time to go deeper. 

The Spiritual Exercises have been that "deeper still" and "excel still more" of 1 Thessalonians 4 (because love is the ultimate overflow of the Exercises). The Spiritual Direction training gives me a smaller cohort of like-hearted people and very personal and accessible mentors without a smidgen of academics. No writing papers that fit academic parameters or answer the questions they pose. We write one page summaries of the one book a month we read answering personally and not academically. 

It was a good move. I was doing it for personal growth, and a review is always good, but the habits they were attempting to instill have been firmly rooted in my habits and life, and it has been all for free. 

The first weekend in Boise was phenomenal, and people asked me questions about myself which did not happen very often in the Institute. I did a lot of listening, but I do that a lot in my life so I was looking for something more mutual. I have that from the Boise Cohort, and I also have my Best Boise Buddy, Debbie, to debrief after each day of training. Such a plus!

So I better go. It was great. I am so glad I made the radical decision to take the SEEL/Spiritual Direction offramp to a new FREEway on the road to the glory of God! 

39. All the Light We Cannot See

I made the mistake of reading this AFTER one of the best books of all time: Les Miserables. So, this book doesn't compare to that classical novel, but it is a good book. It is also a sad book. I thought I would be wowed by it because of all the rave reviews. I wasn't wowed, but I did like it. It made me want to keep reading to the end to see how all the characters ended up. I loved hearing about St. Malo and Paris since I was in Normandy and Paris last summer. That was fun. War is a sad subject though. :( 

38. Letting God Come Close: An Approach to the Ignatian Exercises

I did the Spiritual Exercises last year, and LOVED the entire experience (so much so that I am doing it all over again with my husband). This was fun to read from the viewpoint of giving the Spiritual Exercises as a Spiritual Director (which is what I am now being trained to do - stay tuned). I really like William Barry's writing style, and I learned nuances about the exercises. I wouldn't necessarily recommend reading this book unless you have gone through them or at least more familiar with them. 

It was a worthwhile read! 

Type Two Enneagram Thought for the the Day

EnneaThought® for the Day Try this Affirmation today: "I now affirm that my happiness does not depend on pleasing others." (Enneagram Transformations, 47) Does this personality type system have me pegged or what? It will be good as I face new students this morning!

37. Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life

People rave about this book, but I just thought it was OK. He is a philosophy guy, and that is not really my thing. His premise is that we have two halves of life and most people don't really get to the second half of life. We all have to go on a journey to find our true home and true self, and he compares this throughout the book to Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey. That was fun since I have spent a lot of time in that poem.  

I think I started "falling upward" pretty early in life. So grateful for a breakdown at 23. I think that is really the best thing that has every happened to me. It was a marker point in history. The humiliation was so public, spread throughout my organization and my office. But it was so freeing at the same time. Pain has a way of doing that. Failure is a path to freedom. So grateful. I found so much about God through that "fall"! So maybe this quote encapsulates it for you. Sorry that I do not have the page number. I read a library book so I did not underline but found this in a review:

Failure and suffering are the great equalizers and levelers among humans. …There is a strange and even wonderful communion in real human pain, actually much more than in joy, which is often manufactured and passing. In one sense, pain’s effects are not passing, and pain is less commonly manufactured. Thus it is a more honest doorway into lasting communion than even happiness…. Many of us discover in times of such falling the Great Divine Gaze, the ultimate I-Thou relationship, which is always compassionate and embracing, or it would not be divine. Like any true mirror, the gaze of God receives us exactly as we are, without judgment or distortion, subtraction or addition. Such perfect receiving is what transforms us. Being totally received as we truly are is what we wait and long for all our lives. All we can do is receive and return the loving gaze of God every day, and afterwards we will be internally free and deeply happy at the same time.

Falling Upward: A Spirituality of Failure - Beyond Blue
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/beyondblue/2011/05/falling-upward-a-spirituality-of-failure.html#VPpVQSijsoDDFRA2.03

36. The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything

I did the online Creighton University Spiritual Exercises last year this time (the new one starts TODAY, in fact), but I loved reading this "encyclopedia" of all things Jesuit to give me an overall view of Ignatian Spirituality. It was fascinating. I don't agree with everything in it, but it has some wonderful things about finding God in all things, making decisions, discovering vocation, and surrendering all to God. I am a big proponent of the Spiritual Exercises for everyone (including evangelicals - very little is decidedly "Catholic" if you are afraid of that). My husband and I along with another couple will be doing the Exercises in Portland starting in six days (seelportland.org). It is such a great deal: prayer exercises every morning, meeting with a spiritual director two times a month, and a half day retreat in a gorgeous setting with other retreatants once a month for only $445!

Here is an National Public Radio with the author: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124357786?storyId=124357786

35. Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23

This is very much in the theme of most of Dallas Willard's books so I am very familiar with the content, but it was nice to be reminded that with God we lack nothing. He has some very practical suggestions for sharing a moment by moment day with Jesus too.

I think I like Living in Christ's Presence much better, and it has similar content. 

Here is another review by someone from LibraryThing.com:

Using the well-known Psalm 23 as his launching point, author Dallas Willard explores what it means to live a life without fear; a life of trust in God; a life without lack. Based on a series of talks given by the author some 20+ years ago, this book was compiled posthumously by a close friend of the author. Willard is an expert at breaking down deep thoughts into digestible bites, and his warmth and true care for the reader is evident in every page. Read this one with pen in hand - lots to ponder and savor.

This review is based on an advance reader copy from the publisher. ( )

   NeedMoreShelves | Feb 6, 2018

34. The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

I read the full book of the Brother Karamazov years ago and love it. This was a nice abridged version of the story. 

I did not know the story of The Idiot, and it was excellent. 

I really enjoy these LA Theatre Works adaptations of classics! 

33. Candlelight: Illuminating the Art of Spiritual Direction by Susan S. Phillips

This author has been doing spiritual direction for several years. She tells the story of her journey with nine of her directees. It is quite beautifully written, and I learned a lot about direction from reading about these journeys. 

32. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

 

The Best Book Ever Written!

This was such a good investment of 58 hours. I loved this narrator. This is my third or fourth time through it, and I loved it even more this time. It remains hands-down my favorite book by a long shot. How much more meaningful to have been to Paris and to see the location of the Barricades and all the places mentioned in the book. It was also such a treat to see the house in which he wrote part of Les Miserables! I was in HUGO HEAVEN at his house, and the old gentleman who looked after the tourist was so tickled at my excitement. 

I read this book in the summer of 1996, culminating with me seeing the stage version in Seattle on my birthday, July 27. This was before I had homeschooled and read all the books from The Well-Educated Mind (press hyperlink to see how long it took me). Twenty-two years later, I understood much more of his references.

The writing is so beautiful. The story is amazing. I think everyone should read this book at least one time in their life! It is so worth the time.   



"The night was starless and extremely dark. No doubt, in the gloom, some immense angel stood erect with wings outspread, awaiting that soul."

Type Two: Indirection

Type Two EnneaThought® for September 7th

The overall keynote of Twos is indirection. Personal needs and desires are expressed indirectly, through service to others. Twos feel that they cannot go after what they want directly: it must be given to them by others as a sign that they are really loved and appreciated. Notice today when you are being indirect. (Understanding the Enneagram, 78)

Type Two Thought for the Day

EnneaThought® for the Day Type Two EnneaThought® for September 4th When we are identified with our personality, we forget that there is much more to us. Today, let go of your habitual self-image and allow your healthy qualities of unselfishness and altruism to unfold. (Understanding the Enneagram, 360)

George finally took the Enneagram Test. He is a Type 9

I cannot believe how accurately this describes our relationship. George is a very healthy 9 though!

Enneagram Twos and Nines are similar in a wide variety of areas and reactions; both types are interested in nurturing others and in helping people to be better, more comfortable with themselves, and more at peace. Both types also tend to be optimistic and to reframe disappointments in the most positive way possible. This pairing has an outstanding warm, kindly, and good-natured quality about it that each side reinforces. Twos and Nines are easy-going, hospitable, and undemanding, happy to make friends happy and to welcome them into their home. Twos bring to the pair a more outward and interpersonally engaging energy: they would most likely be the first to introduce themselves at a party or to go to someone's aid and comfort if they perceived that the other person had some kind of problem. Twos are proud of their relationship, their home, their family and their friends—and they want to share them with others. Twos constantly add energy and new people to the relationship mix. They are more talkative than Nines and more openly curious about other people, how they live and what they are like, and more eager to get involved in others' lives.

On the other hand, Nines bring a quiet steadiness and uncomplicated directness that allows people to flourish and things to get done with a minimum of stress and conflict. Even if Twos become upset about their relationships, or are feeling moments of self-doubt about how loved they are, Nines have a way of calming them down and of providing a great deal of unquestioned acceptance. Both types are drawn to each other to provide soothing and support; their home and hearth, pets and love of nature are extremely important to them. Both go out of their way to be considerate of each other, as well as of other people. Much of their best communication is non-verbal, physical, arising from their simple, direct presence to each other. They can develop almost a psychic link with each other. This is a very mellow couple, whose emphasis on hospitality reminds people of how healing it is to be around loving, generous people.