Forgiveness/ Healing

Forgiveness/ Healing

“But they could not find a way to take him in because of so many people. They made a hole in the roof over where Jesus stood. Then they let the bed with the sick man on it down before Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “friend, your sins are forgiven.” Luke 5: 19-20.

Most of the healing stories of Jesus first involve Jesus forgiving the sins of the person who is afflicted before he heals their physical ills. He sees the spiritual illness above the physical malady. He knows that he can bring more comfort by healing first the spiritual illness by forgiving our resentments and abuses before he tackles the physical pain. This has been my experience.

The spiritual harms I have caused to others has brought me more pain than any physical illness. The pain I have brought to my partners at work, my spouse, my children, my friends has been more overwhelming than the physical pain of broken bones or diseased organs. Of course, I have attempted to ease that spiritual pain with many remedies, food, alcohol, work, or busyness so great that I do not have time to think of the wrongs I have done, or perhaps I engage in good works in some other area hoping this will make up for the harm I have done in other parts of my life.

The people coming to Jesus do not ask him for forgiveness of their sins. They ask for physical healing. They are deaf or blind to the spiritual ills that are blocking them. The good news is that Jesus knows where our pain is greatest even when we do not know it, and he lets us know that we are forgiven even before we ask!

This does not mean that we do not need to ask for forgiveness. My experience is that until we are aware of our sins and ask for forgiveness we live with a terrible emotional pain. Some times we do not know where this pain is coming from, we just know it is there.

This story also always reminds us that often it is our friends who bring us to Jesus for healing and forgiveness when we are crippled, out of answers because the pain relievers are no longer working.

Awareness comes with prayer, spiritual exercises, spiritual direction, dreams. The good news is that once we have some awareness, the Gospel tells us that we will be forgiven even before we ask! It is like going to your supervisor to ask for a raise and knowing before you get there that you will receive it!

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Joanna joannaseibert.com

Rule of Life

Rule of Life

“The Rule of Benedict is concerned with life: what it’s about, what it demands, how to love it. And it has not failed a single generation.” Joan Chittister, The Rule of Benedict, A Spirituality for the 21th Century, p. 2.Crossroad New York.

Brother Michael Gallagher, OSB, spoke at this weekend’s Community of Hope Retreat about evaluating our Benedictine rule of life. He asked us to consider what was the good news our religion talks about. His belief is that the good news is that we are one with God. We have been loved to life by God. God calls us constantly to keep that connection. How do we do it?

Michael then asked us to carry with us a pad where we could write down what we did every hour for one week. That sounded like a daunting task. At the very least we would get some ideas where we were spending our energy, how and when we were eating, how often we listened to the news, how much time were we spending with family, how much work were we required to do at home. It reminded me of looking at our check book or credit card report to see where we are spending our energy and our money in our life.

Next he recommended we put on our calendar for each day a time for morning prayers. The time, the type of prayers were not as important as if we make it the same time each day. Then he asked us to put down a time for evening prayers, again the same time each day. Lastly he wanted us to write in a regular time for meals each day, same time each day. I am beginning to get his message. God calls us to faithfulness. If we make an effort to have God be a part of a regular rhythm in our lives, we will find that God connection.

Michael promises us, we do not have to worry as much about what we do in between the meals and prayers. God fills in the blanks, we will be led, especially in the interruptions in our lives. Michael did make one suggestion for prayers, and that was prayers of gratitude. My experience is that gratitude is the holy stickiness and can hold our life together. Well, now we are called to more adventure, a new look at our rule of life.

More will be revealed.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

Buechner: Prayer

Buechner: Prayer

“WE ALL PRAY whether we think of it as praying or not.” Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking and later in Beyond Words, p. 320. HarperSanFranciscon.

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Buechner reminds us that the sigh that automatically leaps from our body when we see beauty, art, music, mouth-watering comfort food, old friends are the thanks, wow prayers that Anne Lamott has written about. (Help, Thanks, Wow) There is something inside of us, the God in us, the Christ in us, the Spirit within us, that cannot help but open our minds back to a connection we came from. This is another word for prayer, a connection to the place from which we came.

Buechner also reminds us of all the stories in the New Testament about how God lets us know that persistence in prayer can make a difference in our lives. The Hound of Heaven is in pursuit of us and we are to follow the example. If nothing else, we are also following C S Lewis’ advice to “act as if” we believe in that power greater than ourselves and eventually something happens. 12 step groups put it more simply, “fake it, till you make it.”

Buechner also suggests that even if we consider prayer as talking to ourselves, it is not a bad idea. It can be not unlike the Ignatian examen where we consider what is happening in our life. We review our life and learn insights that we might never have known if we had not stopped to consider where we need help and which path might be better. We soon learn that it is most often on the road less traveled, which of course leads to many more prayers.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com