The Dividend self: Courage and Grace

The Dividend self: Courage and Grace

Self-division is when one part of self-experience operates in opposition to a more preferred self-presentation. Seen in those who fail to keep undesirable compulsions and behavioral tendencies at bay, these various hidden and revealed parts of the self lead to frustration and stagnation of self-development and spiritual formation. Using case material this article begins by discussing the concept of the divided self through the lens of modern self and relational theories. The integration of these concepts into a Christian context follows as the virtues of courage and grace are explored as necessary elements for self-integration(Ryan & Frederick, 1997).

We all know that what will transform education is not another theory or another book or another formula but a transformed way of being in the world. In the midst of the familiar trappings of education—competition, intellectual combat, obsession with a narrow range of facts, credentials—we seek a life illumined by spirit and infused with soul. This is not romanticism, as John Cobb (President of the Naropa Institute and host of the Spirituality in Education conference) has properly cautioned us.

I saw the other day a remarkable documentary called The Transformation of Allen School. Allen School is an inner-city school in Dayton, Ohio. It was for many years at the bottom of the list in that city by all measures. There were fifth graders who had parole officers. The dropout rate was incredible and saddening. The failure of those students in every aspect of their lives sickened the heart. And along came a new principal, a principal who—it's relevant to note—came from the Philippines, a culture which has an inherent respect for things spiritual in a way American culture does not. And he brought the teachers together and said to them, in substance, as ...