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APRIL 2006 -------
Welcome to the April 2006 Birth Order newsletter! We have just one through a spiritual season with Lent, Easter, and Passover. This might be a good time to think about spirituality. Birth Order influences the preferred type of spirituality of each personality. The features of each Birth Order can be seen in the spirituality of that person. The Only Child is drawn to an ethical type of spirituality. In this spirituality life’s questions are answered, conclusions are drawn and one’s belief system is fixed. This spirituality includes a clear concept of right and wrong, clear definitions of the content of faith and living life on the basis of the spirituality. It does not include a questioning of one’s faith. This spirituality is organization with which the Only can live. The First Born is drawn to the spirituality of the loving community. The First Born sees the validation of faith being in how the believer treats others, loves their enemies, creates a supportive community, turns the other cheek and practices the Golden Rule. This spirituality addresses the First Born experience of living in a world lacking love. The Second Born is drawn to a spirituality of self-discipline. The Second Born sees faith validated by the price persons are willing to pay for what they believe. The emphasis is on sacrifice, self-discipline, service and commitment. This spirituality addresses the Second Born felt need to overcome the feelings of inadequacy. The Third Born is drawn to a spirituality of devotion with an emphasis on prayer, contact with God, spiritual experience and the search for personal power through the Spirit of God. The Third Born is subconsciously overcoming the feeling of vulnerability through spirituality. The underlying purpose of this spirituality is to be strong. The Fourth Born is drawn to mystical spirituality. The Fourth Born looks for God in life, discovery of what God is doing, the spiritual meaning of events, God’s guidance and the opportunity to analyze God’s activity in life. This spirituality connects with the Fourth Born desire to be included, the drive to analyze and the urge to probe the mysteries of life. In the New Testament the Gospels and Paul each represent one of these types of spirituality. The Only Child spirituality is expressed by the Gospel of Mark in the raising of questions that are answered by the reader. First Born spirituality is represented by Matthew with his emphasis on loving, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount. Luke expresses Second Born spirituality with his emphasis on taking up the cross to follow Jesus, the story of the prodigal son and searching for the lost sheep through the night. John sets forth devotional spirituality with the new birth, drawing power from Jesus like branches of a vine and an emphasis on redemption. Paul does mystical spirituality by constantly emphasizing the mysteries of life like seeing things through a dark glass. Knowing how Birth Orders practice their spirituality may deliver you from judging someone to be deficient because their spirituality is different. Also, knowing the types of spirituality may enable you to expand your own spiritual experience with dimensions from the other Birth Orders. Not all spirituality or claim to spirituality falls in these categories. There is a spirituality that rests on authority rather than experience. In this spirituality there is a constant reference to authority whether it be a holy writing, a person or a tradition. A cult represents an extreme form of this spirituality with its subservience to a cult leader. Spirituality that arises from trust in authority without reference to inner need may not be real spirituality. I have drawn on the Christian experience to explain spirituality. I am interested in feedback from persons of other religions to understand the broader experience of spirituality. Feel free to email. WOMAN’S WORLD MAGAZINE A writer for Woman’s World magazine interviewed me last week for an article on Birth Order and stress. Watch for the article – it should appear in the next few weeks. BLOG Remember to check out the blog at http://birthorder.blogster.com for lots of information on Birth Order. COUNSELING Birth Order based counseling/consulting is available by telephone. Call 1-800-214-0795 to make an appointment. For more information write clifford@birthorderplus.com. There are advantages to counseling by phone. You are in your own home, you can concentrate without visual distractions and you feel more comfortable than in a counseling office. Telephone counseling has proven to be effective. Sincerely,
Cliff Isaacson, BA, BD You are free to forward this newsletter to interested people.
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The following books by Cliff are available by calling 1-800-214-0795:
The Birth Order Challenge Hardback $19.95 Credit Card payments are accepted.
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