Alice Fryling - Mirror for the Soul: A Christian Guide to the Enneagram

One of the most helpful tools for me in exploring this question is the Enneagram. The Enneagram is an ancient tool that can help us puzzle out who we are. As a child I looked to my friends to find out who I was. Like Alice I said, Im sure Im not Ada.... I cant be Mabel.... Oh dear, how puzzling it all is! As I grew into young adulthood, I looked to those whose faith I admired. But I never lived up to the standard I saw in their lives. Later in adulthood, I decided to set my own standards for the person I wanted to be. That didnt work either. The Enneagram led me to new discoveries about who I really am. Even more important, knowledge of the Enneagram has led me to the grace of God. I discovered through the Enneagram that I am not just my gifts, I am not just my failures, I am not just my compulsions. I am a person created by God, loved by God, and uniquely gifted to love others with Gods merciful and gracious love.

Through the Enneagram God has taught me that I am not exactly who I think I am. I think I am what I do. I think I am an expression of my gifts. I think I know what life is about, that my values are all in place. But there is a part of me that is performing and pretending. And there is a vast part of who I am that remains untapped, unexplored, and unexpressed.