charleston: different faiths

Charleston: Different Faiths

“Each person defines faith for themselves. Even if we sit in the pews with a thousand others, we all still process what we believe individually. Part of that definition is received, imparted to us by culture and community. Part is internally developed over time and through experience. Faith, therefore, is a process. Being conscious of what faith means to us is being aware of how life works for us. As Socrates is supposed to have said: the unexamined life is not worth living.” Bishop Steven Charleston, Daily Facebook Meditation

meeting of Christians, Jews, and Muslims

Those who come to talk about spiritual direction are usually consciously or unconsciously looking for the examined life, trying to go deeper in their relationship with God. Steven Charleston’s message is a reminder as we talk to spiritual friends to honor and respect their faith that may be different from ours.

In fact, this is how our faith as well as their own grows as we learn about the relationship of others in different faith groups from our own. With so much division in our country at this time, so many ask about what we can do to bring about healing. My experience is that we are called to “bloom where we are planted.”

I hear a call to reach out to and become friends with our neighbors of other faiths. Our schools and the workplace are perfect opportunities. They most often have become where our melting pot is centered. Let others know we want to know more about what they believe. We are called to attend diversity seminars and meetings and services between other Christian groups such as Church Women United, World Day of Prayer, and other faith groups that include Muslims and Jews and Hindus and more.

Sharing a meal together is always a good start and probably the most important part of our attempt to connect to each other. If we pause long enough to eat, we usually are forced to pause ever so briefly to listen to our neighbor.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

Literature and the Spiritual LIfe

Paying attention

‘From the simplest lyric to the most complex novel and densest drama, literature is asking us to pay attention. Pay attention to the west wind. Pay attention to the boy on the raft, the lady in the tower, the old man on the train. In sum, pay attention to the world and all that dwells therein and thereby learn at last to pay attention to yourself and all that dwells therein.” Frederick Buechner in Whistling in the Dark. From Synthesis, Today Quote, November 15, 2018, www.synthesispub.com.

We talk so often about being mindful, paying attention to our surroundings, to the people we meet, nature, those we love and those who love us. In true Buechner form, he reminds us of a whole other world that calls us to be mindful. It is the songs we sing, and the books we read, and the plays and movies we see. Whether we realize it or not, all the art and literature forms have a message of staying in the present, paying attention to the present and listening to where God is calling us to be the person we were created to be.

Cham Canon at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Memphis told us at our confirmation classes so many years ago that when we sing hymns, we are saying some of the most profound words we will ever say.

I think of books I could not stop reading as a young girl, Nancy Drew Mysteries. Many years later after I became a pediatric radiologist, I realized, that radiology is detective work, looking for clues for what is missing or what should not be there. Even now later in life, I am attracted to mysteries and clues that God leaves for us as reminders of God’s love.

Perhaps Jo in Little Women also became such a part of my being that I was not afraid later to cross barriers or seek out mentors searching for more answers which usually only led to more questions.

Something speaks from the depth of my being and sets me back on course every time I see Phantom of the Opera. I have seen it so often that I have run out of friends and family who will go with me!

God keeps talking to us through so many people and things, and we should never forget how our literature is another place God may connect to us so clearly.

I am also continually surprised how the message from the same book or song or play may be different for each one of us.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com

Gratitude Deficiency

Gratitude Deficiency

“”Ignatius thought that a particular type of ignorance was at the root of sin. The deadliest sin, he said, is ingratitude. It is ‘the cause, beginning, and origin of all evils and sins.’” Jim Manney, God Finds Us, An Experience of the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius.

pro church media unsplash

As Thanksgiving approaches, we try to remember what we are thankful for, especially on that day just before mealtime prayers. Sometimes we discuss being thankful briefly with family and friends who are gathered around the table with us.

Ignatius and Jim Manney are reminding us that thankfulness is more than a brief one-time event each year. Being thankful keeps us connected to God, a power greater than ourselves, who so loves us and daily showers us with gifts. People stay in recovery from addiction by making gratitude lists every day. Those who practice Ignatian spirituality thank God in their nightly Examen for specific gifts they received during that day. Those who are losing hope or are depressed are sometimes helped by doing this exercise daily of remembering what they were thankful for during the day and sharing it with a friend. Those who see only the negative aspects of their world also can sometimes be transformed by starting to look for even the smallest part of their life where they are grateful. Sometimes we may be thankful only for the sun or the moon, but it is important if we want to change, to keep saying daily, sometimes hourly, prayers of thanksgiving.

Another exercise that can be helpful is to try to write down during a day the times we actually say “thank you.” This sometimes is an eye-opening experience.

Next we can begin to say “thank you” for even the smallest event, such as someone passing a plate of food at a meal, someone filling our glass of water or tea, a waiter serving our dinner, a hug, a hand outreached to help, a visit, a call, an email, a note, a text from a friend, a car door opened.

Eventually being thankful can become an automatic part of our being. We can extend gratitude to other parts of our lives such as a good night’s sleep, the smell of morning coffee brewing, warm clothes in the winter, a place to live, family members especially spouses and children and grandchildren, a community of friends, a church community, an ability to work, the beauty of nature, the sun in the morning, the moon at night, good health, recovery from an illness, improvement in health.

Gratitude has a direct connection to the God who so loves us. Moments of gratitude connect us to the fruit of the Spirit, love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.1

1Galatians 5:22-23

Joanna. Joannseibert.com