Day of Pentecost

Pentecost

“When the Day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven, there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind.”—Acts 2:1-2.

“ … [Jesus] breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”   —John 20:22.

Barbara Brown Taylor1 describes two versions of Pentecost: the gentle breeze in John, as Jesus breathes into the few disciples fearfully gathered on the night of his resurrection, and the violent wind of Pentecost described in Acts, as the Holy Spirit sweeps in, with tongues of fire hovering over at least a hundred people.

trinity cathedral little rock

The disciples at the gentle wind Pentecost are commissioned to take the Spirit out into the world. The ministry assigned to the violent wind disciples is to seek to fan the Spirit already present in the world. Taylor challenges us in our congregations to emulate the disciples in both Pentecost stories: those of the gentle breeze and those of the violent wind. Both groups are commissioned to find the Holy Spirit within themselves and others and to take it out of their churches and into the world.

The same is true of the Spirit, the Christ, within us. We are called to connect with that Spirit within us and then go out and connect with the Christ in others. If we don’t, we are like the disciples in John’s scenario—locked up in a dark room for fear of losing what we have. Only when we connect our Spirit to the Christ in others do we know the peace, joy, and love we are seeking. Our view of God also becomes larger as we become aware of the magnitude of God’s creation and love.

Barbara Brown Taylor, “God’s Breath” in Journal for Preachers, Pentecost 2003, pp. 37-40.

Happy Pentecost.

Joanna  joannaseibert.com

Thank you for supporting our camp and conference center, Camp Mitchell, on top of Petit Jean Mountain, by buying this book in the daily series of writings for the liturgical year, A Daily Spiritual Rx for Ordinary Time: Readings from Pentecost to Advent. All proceeds from the sale of the books go to Camp Mitchell. If you enjoy this book, could you please take a moment to write a brief recommendation on its Amazon page? https://smile.amazon.com/Daily-Spiritual-Ordinary-Time-Pentecost/dp/B08JLTZYGH/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=joanna+seibert+books&qid=1621104335&sr=8-1

 More thank-you’s than we can say!!!

Bennett Sims, Parker Palmer on Perfectionism

Bennett Sims, Parker Palmer: Perfectionism

“The blemishes in heroes are signs of the most profound paradox of servant leadership: perfection lies precisely in the readiness to own one’s imperfection. God is not a perfectionist. God cannot be a perfectionist and continue to allow the world to exist, especially that part of the world that follows Jesus and yet bears so little resemblance to Him—the church. God’s perfectionism is anti-perfectionism.

The biggest hindrance to the high quality of leadership that honors the gifts and freedom of others is the fear of being found out for who we really are: conspicuously imperfect people.”—Bennett Sims in Servanthood, Leadership for the Third Millennium, (Cowley 1997) pp. 23-24.

I wonder if the Episcopal bishop, Bennett Sims, and the Quaker writer Parker Palmer ever met, for their writings cross paths. Parker Palmer writes in Let Your Life Speak about the five shadows in leaders that lead them to fail if they do not recognize them. First is insecurity about their identity and worth, so their identity depends on the role or power it gives to them over others.

Second, Palmer describes the shadow of believing the world is a competitive battleground with allies and enemies. The third is functional atheism, the belief that the ultimate responsibility for everything lies with us. The fourth shadow is a fear of chaos, leading to rigid rules and procedures to improve rather than empower the people with whom the leader works. They forget that creativity emerges from chaos. Lastly, leaders will fail if they deny the possibility of death, resuscitating things that no longer are alive. 

Today, Palmer and Sims remind us what keeps us from being servant leaders. They are giving us more STOP signs. When we see these qualities in ourselves, their message is to stop and turn around. We are going in the wrong direction. This path is not leading to God within us. We also cannot see God in others on this path. Ironically, we often first notice these shadow qualities in someone else and realize how destructive they can be. Finally, we turn inward with a profound awareness that we may possess these shadows and that they are keeping us from connecting with God and others.

Joanna joannaseibert.com. https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Thank you for supporting our camp and conference center, Camp Mitchell, located on Petit Jean Mountain, by purchasing this book as part of the daily series of writings for the liturgical year, A Daily Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter. All of the proceeds from the books go to Camp Mitchell. If you enjoy this book, could you please take a moment to write a brief recommendation on its Amazon page? https://smile.amazon.com/Daily-Spiritual-RX-Lent-Easter/dp/0578425130/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=joanna+seibert&qid=1620904788&sr=8-3

 More thank-you’s than we can say!!!

Wounded Healers

Ericson: Wounded Healers

“May our Lord Jesus Christ, who walks on wounded feet, walk with you.

May our Lord Jesus Christ, who serves with wounded hands, serve with you.

May our Lord Jesus Christ, who loves with a wounded heart, love with you.

And may you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet.

And may the blessing of God the Father, God the Son,

And God, the Holy Spirit, be with you and remain with you always. Amen!” —Borrowed from Assisting Priest Bill Ericson, Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, Gulf Shores, Alabama.

It takes some time to realize how our difficulties—or what Stuart Hoke would call our own darkness—can prepare us to minister to others and connect to Christ. When we redeem our woundedness and have worked through it, we are called to reach out to others who have also been wounded.

Knowing this while we are being harmed or when the wounds are still raw and open is usually not helpful or comforting. But with time, our prayers can bring our wounds to the recovery room and move from victim to survivor—and eventually become healers ourselves.

The scars do not go away but are reminders that we share these wounds with Christ and the rest of a suffering world. I eventually share this prayer with spiritual friends seeking answers to their unexplained suffering. Over time, we will be able to connect our wounds to Christ.

There are no easy answers, but it helps to realize that we are not alone and that the God we are trying to connect to also knows about suffering. God suffers with us and alongside us, reaching out to us through God’s own wounds to offer connection and healing.

This wood and bronze sculpture by Gurdon Brewster is titled “Welcome Home.” It is in the Chapel of Saint Augustine of Hippo at the former Cathedral College of Preachers at the National Cathedral in Washington. For so many years, this cross has been my image of the wounded Christ caring for us in our wounds and teaching us how to do the same.

 We are thrilled to learn that the College has been renovated and reopened as a new conference and retreat center, now named The Virginia Mae Center. It is part of the National Cathedral’s Cathedral College of Faith and Culture.

We are indeed wounded healers, even more so since we have suffered in many ways through the former pandemic and our political unrest. We are called to minister to those in our community, our nation, and the world who are now hurting.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com

Thank you for supporting our camp and conference center, Camp Mitchell, located atop Petit Jean Mountain, by purchasing this book as part of the daily series of writings for the liturgical year, A Daily Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter. If you enjoy this book, could you please take a moment to write a brief recommendation on its Amazon page? https://smile.amazon.com/Daily-Spiritual-RX-Lent-Easter/dp/0578425130/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=joanna+seibert&qid=1620904788&sr=8-3

 More thank-you’s than we can say!!!