Mentors and friends
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1
I have a friend and mentor, Isabel Anders, whom I first met many, many years ago in her Advent book, Awaiting the Child, An Advent Journal. She wrote the Advent of her first pregnancy about the meaning of Advent to a woman who also was preparing for a child. It is still one of my favorite books to read in Advent, and I often give the book to other women who are expecting a baby during the Advent season.
I wrote to Isabel when I first started writing. She encouraged me and directed me to places where I could send my writing. Isabel and I reconnected several years ago when I realized she was the editor of Synthesis CE, www.synthesispub.com, a lectionary study guide based on the revised common lectionary especially for sermon preparation and Christian Education. We have never met face to face, but still share writings and encourage each other now almost weekly. We may know each other better than many friends who daily visit face to face.
Phyllis Tickle likewise was a friend and mentor. I timidly walked up to her at a book signing at a conference and asked if she looked at other author’s writings. Without hesitating, she immediately gave me her email address and told me to send her what I had written. She encouraged me, took time to read my material, suggested places to send it to, and wrote endorsements. Another friend, Duke Cain introduced me to Keith Miller who also encouraged me even though he was still so busy with his own writings. I can never express to these four people what a difference they made in my life. I can only pay it forward and hopefully do the same for others who ask for input about a talent or career they hope to pursue.
This is about gratitude, gratitude for those who take the time to help us along the way, those who encourage us. We must never forget them, give thanks for them, and in some small way, repay them by doing the same for others. How easy it is to believe that we achieved goals on our own, when along the way there are so many people to thank for guiding us.
Our community connections may not simply be the people who live near us. Our small group, so to speak, may be many miles away. Duke Cain, Keith Miller, and Phyllis Tickle have died, but I still feel their presence and encouragement. Keith and Duke and Phyllis and Isabel have been a part of the communion of saints in my life, living and dead, and “God helping, I want to be one too.”1
We are called to remember that we are never alone as we are constantly “surrounded by a cloud of witnesses supporting and caring for us.”
Joanna joannaseibert.come
1”I Sing A Song of the Saints of God,” Lesbia Scott