The boys and I went to “play bowling” today. I think it’s ironic that they say “play bowling” because I always said the same thing.
On the way, we stopped at our local coffee shop to get everyone “coolachies” (Henry’s name for frappuccinos). As we were leaving the coffee shop, I first ran into a friend whom I hadn’t seen since we spent the summer together at Governor’s School in 1993 and then into one of my Divinity School professors and his wife.
When I got back into the car, the boys asked why my professor’s van was so low to the ground. I explained to them that he has Parkinson’s disease and is confined to his wheelchair, so he rides in a van equipped for the chair.
We talked about Parkinson’s disease and how it affects the body and as we talked I recalled a specific night in my professor’s class that changed my life.
The class was Ethics, Religion, and Spirituality in the Helping Professions. It was one of two summer school classes that I was taking in the summer of 2006. The syllabus included a one night discussion of how personality type influences spirituality, but the discussion ended up lasting only a few minutes at the end of that one class.
Yet that one discussion planted a seed in my heart that has grown to fruition in the years that have followed.
In 2007, I paid my own way to become a certified Myers Briggs Type Indicator administrator. I went to a one week class and focused specifically on the Myers Briggs Personality Type theory that was based on the work of Carl Jung.
After that class and further MBTI discussions with another one of my divinity school professors, I led a women’s retreat on how personality type affects spirituality and led training sessions at summer camps to help camp staff members learn how to understand themselves and how they could best relate to fellow staff members.
I have had countless type theory discussions with friends, family members, and coworkers, and I have seen how understanding type theory has helped strengthen and heal relationships with others, God, the church, and self.
Though many doubt the benefits and accuracy of the MBTI, and though I know that there are other effective theories and indicators, I wholeheartedly believe in the benefits of understanding Myers Briggs type theory and I believe that proper understanding can positively influence home, church, school, and corporate environments.
The moment happened so quickly—a passing discussion at the end of one class period in one
summer school session—a moment probably unnoticed by the rest of the class but one that began
a quietly gentle revolution in me.
Thanks, Dr. Hatcher, for providing me with that moment and for having the courage to keep
fighting for life and changing lives when it seems that so much is falling apart.
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My cousin, Stephen, with whom I often “played bowling,” posted an article about those doubts today. Here’s the link: http://www.vox.com/2014/7/15/5881947/myers-briggs-personality-test-meaningless). And here was my response: I don't agree with this article. For one, the MBTI isn't a test. It's an indicator. The results are meant to indicate a person's tendencies for how he/she gains energy, subconsciously takes in information, consciously makes decisions with that information, and organizes the information for the world to see. The theory is that we are each born with preferences--like right or left handedness--and that when we understand our preferences then we can better understand ourselves and how we interact with the world. It is not supposed to give definitive information to be used to put people in rigid categories or to say what jobs people would be best at. Anyone of any type can do any job. Personality type is not the full definitive mark of a person. But understanding type--how we interact with the world and receive and process information--is VERY helpful in understanding ourselves, our reactions, and how we can be our best. And just because we are a certain type doesn't mean that we don't use the other functions. In fact, the theory states that, over time, we develop and strengthen our non-preference tendencies to become more well-rounded people. If someone wants to use the MBTI for purposes other than it was intended, then maybe it is not fully accurate in the scientific community, but maybe the MBTI is less about scientific certainty than it is about helping persons understand themselves and how they can best function at work and in relationships. Then again, I am an NF--I see possibilities and how things relate to people--not pure raw data and absolute black and whites.
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