Encouraged by my son to start a blog while he does the same, I decided to take his challenge. In his 17 years and his sister's 15 years of boot camp at the Hickman Institute (that's the serious name for our home), we (that's my wife and I) have challenged them to pay attention to four different aspects of their personal growth: spiritual, physical, social, and intellectual. This pattern was first suggested to me explicitly by my college Fraternity. While not a perfect parallel, these four areas are quite similar to those suggested twenty centuries earlier by the greatest teacher who ever lived. When asked to identify the most important commandment, he replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12:29b-30) The heart (καρδία) can be translated as the "inner self," which sounds like one's spiritual being. The soul (ψυχή) refers to that "breath of life" within humans and animals that sets them apart from the rest of creation. While not a direct reference to the social nature of our being, I find that connection useful. The mind (διάνοια) refers to our way of thinking, our faculty of understanding, which is clearly aligned with intellectual pursuits. Finally, the word strength (ἰσχύς) means power and might, implying a physical force.
As we have raised our kids (or, better, discipled our kids), we have used these four categories to strive for balance and completeness in their personal development. As I record my thoughts in this forum in the future, I will likewise strive to address aspects of life in these four categories.
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