Resurrection

Resurrection

“Our memory of Jesus’ resurrection fails us if we only understand his resurrection as a miracle. Jesus’ resurrection was indeed a miracle; however Jesus’ resurrection needs to be more than a miracle. It’s needs to be normal… every day… how we live and breathe: with resurrection power.” Br. Curtis Almquist, Brother, Give Us a Word, April 10, 2018, Society of St. John the Evangelist, SSJE, friends@ssje.org

This is at the heart of spiritual direction, helping spiritual friends see daily, yearly resurrection in their lives in the daily, yearly Good Fridays that present themselves. It often does take more than three days to be aware of these resurrections. As we become more conscious of the resurrections, we become more open to trust and be a little more patient that there will be a resurrection out of each new darkness we face.

My experience also is that I most often draw closer, spend more time with God during the darkness. In the dark Good Fridays of my life is where I learn about surrender, where I “re-turn” my life and my will over to God.

A close family member or friend dies. We learn about the sacredness of life and spend more time living in the present with gratitude for each day. We learn to honor and be grateful for the relationship we had by extending the love and kindness we learned in that relationship to others.

Our children act out. We see our part in it and try to change our relationship with them.

Our job becomes more and more difficult. We finally leave it or maybe are even fired. After much time we find a job that is our bliss.

A medical illness slows us down. We learn about a more meaningful life at a slower pace living a day at a time.

We are caught in our addiction and lose our job. We change our whole live-style and outlook on life in order to live without the addiction.

Someone has harmed us mentally, physically, or spiritually. Over much time we realize that unless we can forgive them and move on, they are still hurting us. We then slowly learn about daily forgiveness for the small hurts we feel each day.

Miracles that become the ordinary. God at work in our lives.

Joanna  joannaseibert.com  

Serenity Prayer

Serenity Prayer

“God,

Gant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And Wisdom to know the difference.” Reinhold Niebuhr

My grandmother kept a copy of the Serenity Payer on her bathroom mirror. Today I honor her by doing the same. I can remember as a young girl seeing and reading the prayer in her bathroom every morning when I visited. What I especially remember is that I thought, “this is the most ridiculous prayer! If there is a problem, I know if I try hard enough, I will be able to solve or fix it!”

Many years later, many trials later, I have learned the hard way the truth of the Serenity Prayer. There are so many things I cannot change. In fact, the only thing I can change is myself and my reactions to other people and situations. I cannot change others. I try to share my first-hand experience with spiritual friends, but so often others like myself need a first-hand rather than a second-hand experience to see this truth.

 I wonder if it took my adoring grandmother as long as it did me to see and try to find and live the truth?

I wonder if she had as many setbacks as I so often do, thinking I can change situations and others?

Joanna   joannaseibert.com

Parker Palmer: Sanctuary

Parker Palmer: Seeking Sanctuary in Our Own Sacred Spaces

"At times something happens that makes us hypersensitive to all that threatens our souls. Sanctuary is wherever I find safe space to regain my bearings, reclaim my soul, heal my wounds, and return to the world as a wounded healer. It’s not merely about finding shelter from the storm: it’s about spiritual survival. Today, seeking sanctuary is no more optional for me than church attendance was as a child." Parker Palmer, What We Need to Flourish Is Here | On Being

https://onbeing.org/blog/what-we-need-to-flourish-is-here/, September 21, 2016.

Return to the river and the land which was  my childhood sanctuary

Parker Palmer reminds us how important it is to have a safe place, a sanctuary where we can go to and renew our spirit when we are wounded, when all around us is falling apart, when we lose our direction. It is indeed about spiritual survival. I think of people who live in crowded quarters, multiple families in a few rooms, refugees in camps. How do they ever renew their spirit? Perhaps this is factor in their unrest.

I have had so many sanctuaries, my bedroom growing up, a cigar box filled with sacred treasures, my grandparents’ home, a school, a dock, a river, a woods, listening to music, playing music, singing,  a chapel, a person, many other bedrooms, a church camp, many offices with little altars, a dress shop, books, paintings, a favorite hotel, a writer, a daily walk, museums, phone calls, a chair,  a beach, a balcony, a church, special friends.

 Today my sanctuary is writing, trying to clear thoughts from my head and move them from my head to my body. I give thanks that somehow these sanctuary places came about at the right time. The seemingly healthiest friends I have all have sanctuaries and are not ashamed or embarrassed to talk about them.

Of course, there are the dangerous sanctuaries, food, alcohol, drugs, work, shopping, relationships which are temporary dwellings built on sand.

Joanna   joannaseibert.com