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The 3 Color World has now become Natural Character Development.

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The Passion Compass

The Passion Compass exercise is a very visual activity you can do with a group of people to help them see a fuller picture of God and to deepen their understanding of each other. This exercise can be performed in a small group of 8 to 15 people or in groups of several hundred people (for instance, in the context of a conference or a church-wide seminar). To do that exercise, follow the six steps outlined below:

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  1. Make sure that everyone has the results of their Spiritual Style Test in hand.
  2. Download and print out posters for the nine spiritual styles (see below) and arrange them in a circle on the walls of the meeting room corresponding to their position within the spirituality compass (see page 1 of their Personal Profile).
  3. After welcoming the participants, ask them to walk to the poster with the name of their highest-scoring spiritual style.
  4. As the facilitator of this exercise you can move to the center of the circle and explain the following four dynamics: (1) Every single person in the room has a unique antenna for God. (2) Your group encompasses many diverse styles, with some more strongly represented than others. (3) There are neighboring positions (e.g. rational/doctrinal) and opposite positions (e.g. sacramental opposite to Scripture-driven and sharing). (4) It is the task of every person to move closer to the center, i.e. to become both more radical and balanced. In practical terms this involves learning from the styles opposite you. Take sufficient time to illustrate each of the points mentioned above by using examples taken from the group gathered in the room, for instance by interviews with individual group members.
  5.  Now every participant approaches a person that is positioned approximately opposite to him or herself.
  6. The representatives of the the opposite styles share, in dialogue between two people each, about their experiences with God. They strive to find out how they can support each other in spiritual growth (it may be helpful to print out or project the following questions on a screen).
  • How do you best connect with God? How does your spiritual style relate to that? Can you give me some examples?
  • What are your spontaneous feelings about some of the styles opposite to your own (e.g. my style)? Are those styles appealing to you? Do you have no particular feeling about them? Or do you perhaps try to avoid them a little?
  • What are the dangers and neglects of your spiritual style (see columns 3 and 4 of the table on page 6 of your personal profile). Can you share any examples how those might show themselves in your life?
  • How might more interaction with your opposite style(s) help you minimize those weaknesses? How could that kind of interaction take place?
  • Is there anything specific that I might be able to do to make it easier for you to grow in one of your opposite styles?