{"id":176,"date":"2012-09-24T13:52:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-24T13:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lrtministry.org\/connecting-the-dots-true-self\/"},"modified":"2012-09-24T13:52:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-24T13:52:00","slug":"connecting-the-dots-true-self","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesojournersgarden.org\/blog\/connecting-the-dots-true-self\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecting the Dots – True-self"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of Henri Nouwen\u2019s spir\u00adi\u00adtual polar\u00adi\u00adties and a com\u00adpo\u00adnent of authen\u00adtic pres\u00adences is the inward reflec\u00adtion and our strug\u00adgle with self \u2014 true-self vs. false-self. That is is the per\u00adson who we are one the inside accu\u00adrately reflected by who we project our\u00adself to be to oth\u00aders? As I speak of self I am look\u00ading at it at a very basic level. The ques\u00adtions I ask when I speak of self are: 1) Are the things we say we believe and value reflected in the way we live our life?, 2) Do you lever\u00adage the way you are wired, your nat\u00adural skills and your spir\u00adi\u00adtual gift\u00ading so as to ben\u00ade\u00adfit oth\u00aders around you?, or as described in James 2 3) Does your faith lead to action?<\/span><\/div>\n
The prob\u00adlem that many of us face when look\u00ading at these ques\u00adtions is that we don\u2019t always know what we fully believe and value, we don\u2019t know the extent of our wiring and gift\u00aded\u00adness, we don\u2019t know how to put our faith into action. It\u2019s not that we don\u2019t have any beliefs, val\u00adues, gifts or faith, it\u2019s that we have never taken the time to eval\u00adu\u00adate, orga\u00adnize and act on\u00a0them.<\/span><\/div>\n
Foun\u00adda\u00adtional Beliefs
\nWe all have a set of foun\u00adda\u00adtional belief, we may not be able to artic\u00adu\u00adlate them but they are part of our life. The ques\u00adtion to ask here is \u201cWhat or who is it that is inform\u00ading my foun\u00adda\u00adtional beliefs?\u201d Is it cul\u00adture and soci\u00adety? Is it God? Is it the peo\u00adple we asso\u00adciate with? Is it the things we watch and read? To be hon\u00adest it is prob\u00ada\u00adbly a com\u00adbi\u00adna\u00adtion of some or all of these. The trou\u00adble with hav\u00ading mul\u00adti\u00adple sources is that there will be times when two or more will con\u00adtra\u00addict each other. The ques\u00adtion then \u201cWhich one trumps?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
For me it is God who I have cho\u00adsen as the \u201ctrump card.\u201d My foun\u00adda\u00adtional beliefs are drawn from the sto\u00adries God has given us in the Bible. I actu\u00adally talk of my foun\u00adda\u00adtional beliefs in the from of three meta-narratives that I find as I read the Bible \u2014 the cre\u00adation nar\u00adra\u00adtive, the restora\u00adtion nar\u00adra\u00adtive, and the eter\u00adnal nar\u00adra\u00adtive. I don\u2019t have the space to dive deeply into each of these right now but my beliefs on cre\u00adation, rela\u00adtion\u00adship, mean\u00ading, restora\u00adtion, and pur\u00adpose all fol\u00adlow out of these narratives.<\/span><\/div>\n
Oper\u00ada\u00adtional Beliefs and Val\u00adues
\nFlow\u00ading out of my foun\u00adda\u00adtional beliefs are my oper\u00ada\u00adtional beliefs and val\u00adues. I am cur\u00adrently work\u00ading on liv\u00ading out eight oper\u00ada\u00adtional beliefs. Each belief is grounded in scrip\u00adture, has an asso\u00adci\u00adated value, and an action plan for putting the belief into action.<\/span><\/div>\n
The ques\u00adtion I have been pon\u00adder\u00ading for the last year or so is \u201cWho am I and how best can I lever\u00adage my answer?\u201d The short answer that I have come up with is I am called to come along side other and help them to\u2026 How I fin\u00adish this ques\u00adtion depends upon the con\u00adtext in which it is asked \u2014 at work, at home, at church, and doing min\u00adistry will all have their own par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar responses.<\/span><\/div>\n
I did not arrive at this point in my pon\u00adder\u00adings overnight. I have been actively reflect\u00ading on dif\u00adfer\u00adent aspects of these ques\u00adtion for the last 10\u201312 years. I have put a lot of effort in to fig\u00adur\u00ading out who my true-self is and make sure that I am not pre\u00adsent\u00ading a false self to oth\u00aders. I know that I suc\u00adceed more than I fail, but there is still work to be done. The dis\u00adcov\u00adery of true-self is not a one and done things. Doc\u00adu\u00adments that I cre\u00adate are organic in nature \u2014 I have three doc\u00adu\u00adments that I pull out 3\u20134 times a year that allow me to assess where I am in the true-self vs false-self bat\u00adtle. These doc\u00adu\u00adments con\u00adtinue to evolve as God con\u00adtin\u00adues to trans\u00adform me into the man he knows I\u00a0am.<\/span><\/div>\n
It is through this process of get\u00adting to know myself bet\u00adter that I am bet\u00adter able to be authen\u00adti\u00adcally present with oth\u00aders as I inter\u00adact with them in\u00a0life.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of Henri Nouwen\u2019s spir\u00adi\u00adtual polar\u00adi\u00adties and a com\u00adpo\u00adnent of authen\u00adtic pres\u00adences is the inward reflec\u00adtion and our strug\u00adgle with self \u2014 true-self vs. false-self. That is is the per\u00adson who we are one the inside accu\u00adrately reflected by who we project our\u00adself to be to oth\u00aders? As I speak of self I am look\u00ading … <\/p>\n

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