Strangers: Gratitude

Strangers

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2 NRSV

Early in our medical careers as my husband and I were given the opportunity to help develop departments at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, we were constantly recruiting out of town physicians looking at positions in our specialties several weekends a month. We also had three small children whom we wanted to be with especially on the weekends, so we usually took our children with us on tours of Little Rock and lunches in the afternoon.  We often ate at a hotel restaurant that had an inside glass elevator and escalators, so when our children had enough recruitment entertainment at lunch, they entertained themselves by making several bird’s eye view trips up and down the hotel.  

 I don’t know if this term is still in fashion, but we would identify the visiting physicians to our children as “visiting firemen.”  The phrase is still a well-used part of our family vocabulary.

Many of these “visiting firemen” indeed were “angels unawares” as the King James Bible translates this verse from Hebrews. We had no idea how we would be able to work with those we were recruiting, but we took a leap of faith, and they changed and healed children’s lives, and influenced us as well. They helped us put out fires when politics reared its ugly head in medicine. They taught us by their presence how grateful we were for them every day as we tried to solve and identify and change the course of children’s diseases discussing and consulting with each other in community rather than making decisions by ourselves. Their presence and their wisdom changed me from an anxious person to a grateful person. They brought with them peace, one of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians. (5:22-23)

The greatest accumulation of strangers with whom I now meet weekly are at St. Mark’s food pantry, but soon they as well are no longer strangers. Many indeed are angels. They ask for prayer, but they know how to pray so much better than we do. They have very little, but they share with others. Many bring their neighbors who cannot drive. Most repeatedly tell us stories about how blessed they are.

Perhaps, this is a sign of an angel, one who lives in gratitude.

 I share with spiritual friends that I have learned most often from strangers that gratitude is a straight path to our soul, the God within us.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

Temple: Church, Bath

Temple: Church

“The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.” Archbishop William Temple

Perhaps we should write Archbishop Temple’s words in stone in a prominent place in our churches. It should also be written on our hearts. I also see it as a mission statement for our soul. Jesus gives in his last discourse to the disciples before he dies this Great Commandment, “that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) We are called to stay connected to God’s love and then to share that love with all we meet on this journey.

Part of spiritual direction involves helping our spiritual friends stay aware of their connection to God by following a rule of life or observing spiritual practices on a regular basis.

There is a second part to spiritual direction, however. If we just keep that God connection to ourselves and do not share the love we have received from God, the love cannot survive.

My image of feeling God’s love is like the peace and calm and joy one feels immersed in the water of a warm bath. We cannot just stay there, however. Our skin shrivels, the water becomes cold and murky and eventually dirty. We are called to enjoy the bath, but to get out of the bath tub, put some clothes on, and connect to others about the experience by our words and actions! We may even run a bath or bathe others. We may even wash the feet of others and they may wash ours.

Loving others involves servant ministry. First, we must be connected to that love, and then we are called to serve and share that love with others.

Joanna  joannaseibert.com

Harp: Listening

Listening

“Be a lamp, a lifeboat or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.” Rumi (1207-1273), Daily Quotes, inwardoutward.org, May 3, 2018.

Sometimes I think if I were to redesign a program about spiritual direction that 90% of the time would be devoted to listening. My experience is that listening is one of the best tools of the Holy Spirit within us. I am talking about active listen where we clear our heads as much as possible of agendas and what is going on in our lives. We offer up the gift of time for forty-five minutes or an hour to listen to someone else’s life. For this short period of time we are given the privilege of caring for the soul of another, helping a person realize God’s never-failing presence in his or her own presence.

I sit and all these great ideas come to me as I listen. “I think she would like this book. Changing to this spiritual exercise might be helpful.”

I am learning that if I interrupt with my ideas, they often fall on deaf ears, but if I wait until there is silence and speak, the person seems to see and hear better what I might suggest. Sometimes as I wait, I later realize, “no, this was not the right book or spiritual exercise.”

I have learned a great deal about listening from my harp. Perhaps you have occasionally noticed a loud buzzing sound when some harpists play. Buzz. One of the reasons for a buzz is that you have plucked a string that is still vibrating from a recent placement of that finger or another finger on that string.  You must wait for that string to stop vibrating before you play it again or this annoying sound comes out.

 My buzzing harp is reminding me that I must wait for the person I am visiting with to stop talking. 

I am learning how to play less buzzing notes and to talk less and listen more at the same time. My buzzing harp string has become my icon for listening.

 Listening can become a “lamp, a lifeboat, and a ladder”  to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our own lives as well as the lives of our spiritual friends.

Joanna  joannaseibert.com