Cloud of Unknowing

Cloud of Unknowing

“The universes which are amenable to the intellect can never satisfy the instincts of the heart.” The Cloud of Unknowing, Anonymous

Today we are flying back to Arkansas from Montana and hope to see many blue skies above the clouds. The older I get, the more anxious I seem to be on travel days.  I wake up in the early morning and look out on the Whitefish Lake to see a large cloud just above the water. It seems to be getting larger and getting closer to the water. There is no sound except for an occasional crow calling nearby and a slight breeze rustling the aspen leaves in the trees beside the beach. The quiet, the cloud now turning into fog that is more like a whisper as it approaches the lake gives this spot of northern Montana a mystical countenance.

The 14th century book, The Cloud of Unknowing, by Anonymous also is a writing about Christian mysticism. We call something mystical if it is not obvious to our senses or minds. Something happens when we see such beauty as the clouds and the lake in this cool early morning that we cannot explain the experience by what we know. It calms my soul on a day when I pray for calm and patience and flexibility. We know that our experience tells us we have known this presence before when we took time to be present to it.

That is what I hope has been reinforced to me on this trip with my family. I hope I will stay present to the moment and not miss again the many clouds of unknowing that are now disappearing as I have almost finished writing about them. I am going to stop so I can experience them one last time and keep them in my album of experiencing the majestic beauty of the precious present.

Joanna joannaseibert.com 

Charleston: Sacred Within Each of Us

Charleston: Sacred Within Each of us

 “Do not be shy about claiming the visions you have seen. I know that in our time and culture it is not as common for people to speak of their spiritual visions, but that does not mean the visions themselves have ceased to appear. The Spirit still sends messages to each of us, images that are unique to our experience, flashes of meaning for us to interpret and understand. Some we seek, some come unbidden, but all are authentic parts of a spiritual life. The sacred is a visual realm. Wisdom is in what we see.” Bishop Steven Charleston daily Facebook page, June 27, 2018.

We pass by the town of St. Ignatius in the Flathead Indian Reservation on the way to Glacier National Park.  The name of Ignatius is sacred to so many of us for what this saint taught us from so many years ago. I have previously visited the church there at the foot of the Mission Mountains which is well known for its original biblical paintings on the ceiling and walls painted by one of the brothers, believed also to be the cook! My daughter tells me that there also had been a school there where the students were punished if they were caught speaking in their native Salish language. The Jesuits were so certain they were doing the right thing changing the native Americans into Europeans.

This is a constant reminder for me that we as well sometimes can be so assured about the God of our understanding and what we have to share that we forget to honor that part of God in our neighbor we are trying to help. Our hope is that we will first always honor the God of the understanding of our spiritual friends. We may tell them about the God of love we know and share our experience, but we do not insist that this is the only way to encounter God.

Each of us has a part of the divine within. Our job is to realize that part of God within us and help those we meet to find the God within them and look for similarities in our relationship with God. We also learn so much from others about the divine present in their lives and honor it, and care for it. It is precious.

Today we are beginning to realize the power of native American spirituality that so many for so long were certain was not really God.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

Gifts from Elizabeth 2

Gifts from Elizabeth 2

“Each of us carries in his heart an album of lovely pictures of the past: memories of event that brought gladness to us. I want you now to open this album and recall as many of these events as you can.” Anthony de Mello, “Exercise 18: The Joyful Mysteries of your Life,” p. 71, Sadhana, A Way to God, Christian Exercises in Eastern Form, Image 1978.

I am spending another morning feeling the presence of my husband’s mother, Elizabeth. She and Robert’s dad taught me how to love.

I look down as I write. I am wearing Elizabeth’s engagement ring and wedding band. They are bonded together. When Elizabeth started showing signs of Alzheimer’s, Bob gave her rings to my husband, Robert. He almost immediately forgot where he put it; in fact, we had decided that they were lost.

Then three years ago in Elizabeth’s 104th year, when Robert was looking for something in an old briefcase in his office, he found the rings. We talked about what do to with them, break down the diamonds and give to our grandchildren. Finally, he decided just to keep them as they are. Then the summer of Elizabeth’s 106th year, at Trio’s Restaurant on the patio, Robert got on his knee and asked if we could become engaged. He then gave me his mother’s beautiful rings that he had had sized for me at Sissy’s Log Cabin. I did not get an engagement ring when we decided to get married. So, now in the 49th year of our marriage, I now wear these beautiful rings that were worn for almost that amount of time by Elizabeth.

Did I remember to tell you that Bob and Elizabeth were married the same day, the same year as my parents?

So what does all this have to do with spiritual direction? I think it is important to remember those who mentored and loved us.  De Mello tells us to keep these times in an album in our imagination to return to repeatedly. I think we can still feel that love even long after they have died. It is with us or beside us or in us. I do not know now exactly. These are the people who give us a little glimpse of the love of God. Often wearing a piece of their jewelry or having something that was precious to them nearby helps us connect to them. We remember and give thanks for them.

Joanna  joannaseibert.com