{"id":40385,"date":"2025-03-06T07:00:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T15:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=40385"},"modified":"2025-02-11T14:22:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T22:22:46","slug":"training-the-brain-in-joy-but-curious-about-lament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/training-the-brain-in-joy-but-curious-about-lament\/","title":{"rendered":"Training The Brain In Joy, But Curious About Lament"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a post-pandemic survey done in 2022 by the Barna group, they reported alarming statistics on the decline of pastoral health in the US. The effect of the pandemic continued to ripple through the ranks of pastors, as it has through many professions. The research does not paint a promising picture. They write, \u201cThe number of pastors who are feeling burnt out, lonely or unwell is on the rise, and this is especially true of young pastors.\u201d[1]<\/a> Alarmingly, women in ministry saw their confidence wane even further. They report that 25% have lost confidence in their calling since starting ministry.[2]<\/a> While these are the most recent statistics I could find, I hope that pastoral health is trending upwards again. The book we read this week certainly promises to provide some hope.<\/p>\n

In Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead<\/em>, Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder provide a pathway to joy-filled leadership. Their main thesis is that the practice of four rare habits related to emotional intelligence causes trust, joy, and engagement to soar.[3]<\/a> They note that the source of joy is relational. \u201cWe have found in our study of Scripture and brain science that joy, that feeling of well-being in the deepest part of our soul, is primarily relational. To the human brain, joy is always relational.\u201d[4]<\/a> Rooted in neuroscience and attachment theory they describe the four foundational habits of Rare Leaders. These are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. R \u2013 Remain relational (belonging)<\/li>\n
  2. A \u2013 Act like yourself (identity)<\/li>\n
  3. R \u2013 Return to joy (being glad to be together)<\/li>\n
  4. E \u2013 Endure hardships well (using hard times to bring us closer)[5]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I have a particular interest in this, both personally and professionally. When I went through burnout several years ago, a feeling of fear and dread crept over me that would hang there like a black cloud for a couple of years. \u00a0I remember wondering if joy would ever return. It did eventually emerge after a season of rest. The stated purpose of our district office is, \u201cserving leaders who invite others into fullness of life\u201d and the purpose of the leader development team I lead is \u201cCultivating the health and effectiveness of our Licensed Workers (pastoral leaders).\u201d My vocational goal is to help leaders flourish. On that basis, I thought that this book would be helpful. While I have learned from the book, it was not quite as clear as I would have liked. For the remainder of the blog, I will describe what has been helpful and what I am still trying to reconcile.<\/p>\n

    First, training the \u201cFast Track\u201d brain is critical for joy. In Thinking Fast and Slow<\/em>, Daniel Kahneman identified two systems for thinking in the human brain. System 1 (fast thinking) operates automatically and swiftly, relying on intuition and heuristics. System 2 (slow thinking) is deliberate, slow, and analytical. It requires effort and conscious thought.[6]<\/a> Reading Kahneman left me with the understanding that it was important to engage System 2 rather than simply allow System 1 to be in the driver\u2019s seat. I was a bit surprised because Warner and Wilder lean toward the fast-thinking brain, which seeks either joy or fear but thrives on joy. They state, \u201cThis right-sided master system impacts our emotions and relationships faster than we have time to think about consciously. From bottom to top, the right brain is designed to seek, build, and thrive on joyful relationships.\u201d[7]<\/a> It was helpful to interact with this material because, based on my reading of Kahneman, I had perceived the fast-track brain as something to be mastered rather than cultivated in joy. This was an important distinction, but I was still left with lack of clarity.<\/p>\n

    Secondly, joy can be cultivated through three types of exercises. Joy is cultivated through Imitation,<\/em> which is essentially practicing healthy relational skills in a safe environment. Joy is cultivated through Intimacy<\/em> with God by developing conversational prayer. Finally, joy is cultivated through Identity <\/em>groups, surrounding oneself with allies who call you to live out your identity as God\u2019s child. These are not accountability groups that are fear-based but groups that, \u201ccall out what is best in you.\u201d[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

    I find the idea of cultivating joy by nurturing the brain, through a strategic approach, encouraging. Many leaders who are emotionally unwell feel stuck. Having a strategic approach to cultivating joy provides hope for leaders and empowers them to overcome their circumstances. They caution, however, that building new habits takes a long time. There are no shortcuts to joy. It would be best to be proactive rather than wait for an emotional crash.<\/p>\n

    Next, I\u2019ll identify one issue I\u2019m still contemplating.<\/p>\n

    As I read the book, I wondered about such things as healthy grief and the role of lament in a faith community. Leaders and church communities experience tremendous pain. In July 2023 one of our churches lost five young men in a plane crash. One of the men who died was the youth pastor. Another was the worship pastor\u2019s son. Their parents were all church leaders, elders and key volunteers. They were all best friends, and we\u2019re involved in leadership. The pastors have been in mourning and have been helping people mourn. The pastors have shown tremendous resilience, but there have been many times when they have just mourned for long seasons. Lament has played a crucial role in the life of this church community. The author\u2019s write, \u201cReturning to joy may just be the most important habit you can develop as a leader. Leaders who return to joy do not lose their fast-track guidance or ability to develop the group identity simply because the leader or the group is feeling angry, sad, afraid, disgusted, ashamed, or hopeless right now.\u201d[9]<\/a> That idea of returning to joy as quickly as possible didn\u2019t seem like the immediate solution. The authors did handle this in Chapter 10, Endure Hardship Well, but I found it lacking. There is a season to lament, and I wonder if it\u2019s not always appropriate to return to joy as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

    I searched further by listening to The Huberman Podcast<\/em>, in which neuroscientist Andrew Huberman interviewed Dr. Jordan Peterson. Peterson noted that the ideal would not be inhibiting the fast-track system but rather integrating the fast-track system into a larger vision for life that would include flourishing for self and others. His perspective is that the slow-track system helps the fast-track system to determine a context-dependent response. If trained properly, the fast-track system learns to respond appropriately in the various contexts we are in. He admitted that this is not easy but that it helps one develop appropriate control over the fast-track system. Integrating both systems made much more sense to me than favouring one over the other.[10]<\/a><\/p>\n

    While this book left me wanting more, I did appreciate how reading this helped me discover that the integration of both the fast-track and slow-track systems is optimal for flourishing. Integrating both helps leaders respond in contextually appropriate ways, depending on what the situation requires.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    [1]<\/a> \u201c7-Year Trends: Pastors Feel More Loneliness & Less Support,\u201d Barna Group, accessed January 31, 2025, https:\/\/www.barna.com\/research\/pastor-support-systems\/.<\/p>\n

    [2]<\/a> \u201c7-Year Trends.\u201d<\/p>\n

    [3]<\/a> Marcus Warner and E. James Wilder, Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead<\/em> (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2016), 19.<\/p>\n

    [4]<\/a> Warner and Wilder, 24.<\/p>\n

    [5]<\/a> Warner and Wilder, 46.<\/p>\n

    [6]<\/a> Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em> (Toronto: Anchor Canada, 2013).<\/p>\n

    [7]<\/a> Warner and Wilder, Rare Leadership<\/em>, 65\u201366.<\/p>\n

    [8]<\/a> Warner and Wilder, 116.<\/p>\n

    [9]<\/a> Warner and Wilder, 171.<\/p>\n

    [10]<\/a> Dr. Jordan Peterson: How to Best Guide Your Life Decisions & Path<\/em>, 2024, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=K0hkhbGYaGQ. 10.39-13.51.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In a post-pandemic survey done in 2022 by the Barna group, they reported alarming statistics on the decline of pastoral health in the US. The effect of the pandemic continued to ripple through the ranks of pastors, as it has through many professions. The research does not paint a promising picture. They write, \u201cThe number […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":204,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3011,2594,2595],"class_list":["post-40385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dglp03","tag-warner","tag-wilder","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/204"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40385"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40402,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40385\/revisions\/40402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}