Sailing with Benedict

 Growing in Benedictine Spirituality

“Together (the three vows) are not, as they might seem at first glance about negation, restriction, and limitation...They involve us in the need to face a number of very basic demands: the need not to run away, the need to be open to change, the need to listen. They are based on a commitment which is both total and continuing. And yet the paradox is that they bring freedom, true freedom.” Esther de Waal, Seeking God, the Way of St. Benedict, p.  55.

 This weekend I had the privilege of reviewing the Rule of Benedict with an amazing group from St. Nikolas and St. Peter’s Episcopal Churches learning how to be pastoral caregivers through a program called Community of Hope. Following a rule of Benedictine spirituality involves taking a vow to seek spiritual growth by connecting to three areas of support in our lives: conversion, obedience and stability. Stability speaks to our connecting to a certain community, at work, at a place of worship, within a family, in a recovery group, in the world. Obedience speaks to seeking to look for the Christ in all we meet, especially in that community. Conversion or change occurs as we seek Christ in others in our community and they in turn now see and reflect Christ in us. That Christ within us then leads us to growth. 

A former priest I worked with, Peggy Bosmyer, compared this concept to a sailing ship. We get into the boat. We make a commitment to be in the boat. That is stability. How we direct our boat is the rudder, that is obedience, being obedient to attempting to see Christ in others. The Holy Spirit, the wind. then moves the sails bringing about conversion, a change in movement as we now see and feel Christ in ourselves. Seeing Christ in our neighbor leads and reflects back to us the Christ within us. That Christ within us then leads us to change to a new life.

Joanna   Joannaseibert.com

McCann: And Do not Grieve the Holy Spirit

McCann: And Do not Grieve the Holy Spirit of God

Guest Writer: Sandy McCann

“I act better with my collar on.”

The Very Reverend Harry H. Pritchett, Jr. (Virginia Seminary, February 2003)

Facial markings of Wagogo tribe

My husband and I served as missionaries of The Episcopal Church for twelve years in Africa, primarily in Tanzania where there are well over one hundred different ethnic groups.  Many of these groups place special markings on the body, particularly the face, to permanently identify the child as one of their own.  Their ancestry is literally sealed into their flesh.  Whatever they do from that day forward, whether for good or for evil, is a reflection on the entire community.

At baptism Christians are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever.  In some traditions, the minister will use holy oil to make the sign of the cross on the forehead of the newly baptized.  This ritual is often repeated when one is sick and prayers and anointing with holy oil are done. 

I have often pondered if we would grieve the Holy Spirit less if the sign of the cross were indelibly marked on our foreheads.  Would we be more kind to one another, more tenderhearted, more forgiving? (Ephesians 4.30-32.)

post annointing

Sandy McCann

Joanna  joannaseibert.com

Epiphany remembered again

Epiphany remembered again

“Arise, shine; for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1

Those on the email list did not receive this yesterday, so am repeating. It was a great service tonight!

Epiphany, the revelation, the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles-us, you and me. Christ is indeed manifested to me almost sensuously at Epiphany. It first happened in the mid fifties when I attended my first Episcopal service which was the Epiphany Feast of Lights around the age of eleven in a small Virginia church with a boyfriend and his family.  I still remember the unfamiliar liturgy, the candlelight, and the haunting mystic melodies.   As we walked out of the small-town church on that bitter, cold January night, carrying our candles, we were surprised by the winter's first snow.  I knew that night that God spoke most clearly to me through this tradition.   A decade later I again encountered the beauty of the Feast of Lights at St. Mary's Cathedral in Memphis with their choral procession of the costumed wise men bearing their great gifts. 

 Here in Little Rock at St. Mark’s  again  experienced that haunting call of Epiphany at their Saturday evening service at 5:30 last night on January 6th.   The choir and candlelight recessional out of the church into the dark night to me is always breathtaking.  I watch the beautiful, often familiar faces of those walking out ahead of me.  Their expressions seem to ask, "What will we encounter next in the night?  Will this light be enough for me to see?"  This service empowers all of us to think about carrying our small candle out into the world. 

As the candlelight service concludes, we also realize that we can only see our path because of the light from so many others before, beside, and behind us.

May this new year be full of epiphanies for you and those you love.

Joanna joannaseibert.com