Bridging emotional and spiritual intelligence

By 
Judy Joseph McSween,

Time Out Specialist – Emotional Intelligence, Conversational Intelligence and Spiritual Intelligence Coach

Peace be with you all, as we engage in another reflection on self-awareness and self-management. Pause, become aware of your breathing, and then take three deep breaths, inhaling peace and releasing fear and anxiety.

We can probably each identify someone, either dead or alive, whom we consider as having a deeply spiritual aura about them, ‘oozing spirituality’ as we might say. (Definition: in Catholic terms, ‘spirituality’ refers to the way we live out our faith, through prayer, action, sacraments, and sacred rhythms, all aimed at deepening our relationship with God).

Put a face and name to the person. Take a moment to recollect what it is about the person that aligns with your beliefs about a deeply spiritual person.

What surfaces for me are:

1. Their presence—they enter the room exuding serenity, warmth, peace, availability, connection with our Creator and His Creation.
2. Their actions—welcoming, appreciating and valuing the diversity of the other, generous, forgiving, nonviolent, wise and compassionate decision making, fostering and nurturing connection with our Creator and His Creation.

Were there any commonalities in what emerged for you?

Are these characteristics seen in any characters in scripture?

By extension, I propose that individuals whom we perceive as deeply spiritual, demonstrate high spiritual intelligence—they acquire and apply the knowledge and skills associated with spirituality.

Spiritual Intelligence is not a term we use often, perhaps because we see these deeply spiritual people as belonging to a class of their own, one we could never enter in this lifetime—though remember, we are all called to be holy.

If we were to delve further into the ‘what is’ of Spiritual Intelligence, we soon become aware that it is nigh impossible to be Spiritually Intelligent, if we lack the competencies associated with Emotional Intelligence, that is knowledge and skills associated with awareness and management of our emotions—self-awareness, self-management, other awareness and relationship management.

Over the last few months, we have been exploring how self-awareness and self-management of our emotions manifest themselves in ministry.

We visited time and again St Dorothea de Gaza’s posture on the correlation between our interpersonal relationships (Creation) and our relationship with God the Creator and our deepening spirituality as we grow in intimacy with the Holy Spirit.

As we build our connection with ourselves and others, it requires that we demonstrate emotional self-control. It requires that we demonstrate love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness.

As we build our connection with God the Holy Spirit, we begin to manifest the fruit of the spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control—all reflective of our emotional state.

In its simplest form, Spiritual Intelligence can be described as living a life that is fully integrated with our faith, seeking to understand God’s will, and striving to live in accordance with His teachings.

Author Cindy Wigglesworth defines Spiritual Intelligence as “the ability to act with wisdom and compassion, while maintaining inner and outer peace, regardless of the circumstances.”

Spiritual Emotional Intelligence is the awareness that our emotions are not just reactions—they are sacred messengers from your soul. We are encouraged to suppress or “manage” emotions, yet feelings can bridge the human and the divine, providing guidance and direction e.g.

• 
Joy: Can be a sign of connection, fulfilment, or alignment with God’s will
• 
Sadness: Can indicate loss, unmet needs, an invitation to stillness
• 
Anger: Might signal a boundary violation or a need for assertiveness
• 
Fear: May point to a perceived threat or a need for safety and protection.

Our emotions are sacred. Treat them like prayers.

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Contact Judy Joseph Mc Sween to schedule a personal or a group Time Out session to enhance your self-awareness and self-management competencies.

Email: judy@timeoutspecialist.com

or call (1-868) 684-9827

Visit www.timeoutspecialist.com

Reflection

Revisit the words that you used to describe the deeply spiritual person. Is there a pattern emerging?

Do the words describe the quality of connection that the person is able to establish with others? 

Is there that shift in focus we experience in synodal conversations, from ‘I’ to ‘you’ to ‘we’?

In ministry, are our egos put to the test, challenging us to turn the attention from our needs to that of others?