Brussats: Spiritual Rx

Brussats: Spiritual Rx

“Spirituality won’t solve all your problems, but it will help you deal with them. The first step is to examine your symptoms--what is really happening in your life—to see what they reveal about the best spiritual practices for you.” Frederic and Mary Ann Brussats, Spiritual Rx. p. 16.

Well known writers about spirituality for five decades, Frederic and Mary Ann Brussats, have written extensively about spiritual practices. My favorite book is Spiritual Rx, which is a rich resource for 37 spiritual practices, markers for the spiritual life, their alphabet of Spiritual Literacy, each of which is common in the world’s major religions. With each practice, there is an extensive discussion about it from the basic practice to teachers of the practice, videos, rituals, prayers or mantra, journal exercises, storytelling, community projects, fiction, poetry, art, music.

For example, if you are someone living in the past or future, the opposite of this symptom is being present. The spiritual practice of being present includes reading Brother Lawrence’s Writings and Conversations on the Practice of the Presence of God, viewing the German film, Wings of Desire, imaging exercises of sensing God’s presence all around you, practicing free intuitive writing, watching children at play who live in the moment, learning about Haiku, listening to Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony.

Advent or Lent could be no better time to read this book alone or in a group.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

Fasting

Kelsey, Foster: Fasting

“Fasting can be to the body what silence is to the mind and soul,” Morton Kelsey, Companions of the Inner Way, The Art of Spiritual Guidance, p 119.

Probably no one will consider reading about fasting only a couple of days after Thanksgiving! I was first introduced to holy fasting by Richard Foster in his now classic book, Celebration of Discipline. Fasting from food or any other ways of living helps us become aware of what is controlling us and the degree that it is controlling us. This is of course the traditional call of Lent, “to give up something,” a holy fast from something.

A fast can be a spiritual discipline to connect us more closely to God as are all the other disciplines. As we crave the substance or action, we can enter in some very small way and perhaps identify with the suffering of Christ and of others. Goodness knows, why in the world should we identify with more suffering? It is already present in our minds and in our bodies. For myself, however, when I attempt to fast from food or a certain type of food or from an action such as shopping or work, it is helpful to keep reminding myself that this is in an attempt to hear and see and find more time for God in my life. It can be a re-centering of what is important.

Fasting can especially be an important discipline to investigate how food or an action or a behavior pattern has become too important in our lives.

As we approach Advent, there is no better time to consider this spiritual discipline. Fasting could be a way to honor the Christ child as we fast from activities that block us from Christ in ourselves and in our neighbor.

Fasting above all the other spiritual disciplines can be an answer to prayer for quieting our soul during Advent while the outside world is unusually busy making demands on us. Intentional fasting from the news media, shopping, gossiping or criticism, for even one day a week or even an hour a day could change who we are by the time we approach the Christmas season.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

The Difficult people

The difficult people

“ Someone who has a way of getting under our skin in some significant way probably belongs there.” Br. Curtis Almquist, Society of Saint John the Evangelist, “Brother Give Us a word,” November 17, 2018, ssje.org.

This time of the year we find ourselves around some difficult people we have been able to avoid all year, but not during the holidays.

We learn about Christ by seeing Christ in other people. Sometimes seeing the love of God in our neighbor is easy, sometimes hard. We hope to learn the most about God by sticking with those whose light of Christ shines so easily. Celtic spirituality teaches us that at the core of all of us is goodness. We do meet people, however, whose presence of light and goodness seems impossible to see.

My experience is that God uses every part of each of us to connect and reconnect us back to God. This is true of the difficult parts of ourselves and our neighbors as well. God teaches us where we need help in our lives by being with people who encourage and love us, but we are also taught by being with those who don’t seem to have any concept of love. These are warning signs for us as we observe how empty that life is even if the person seems to be the wealthiest person we know.

We also are to pay close attention to character traits that we are repelled by in others. I think this is what Brother Almquist is trying to tell us. God teaches us so much about ourselves and what is blocking us from a relationship with God in those who repel us as much as we learn from those to whom we are attracted. What greatly irritates us in another often is a character defect we also may have well hidden in ourselves.

Brother Almquist asks us to try not to judge or condemn someone who significantly bothers us. Instead we are to consider this as an invitation to practice mercy and use this situation instead as a mirror into ourselves. We are called to see if these same character defects or sins are also carefully concealed in ourselves just under our skin and blocking us as well from the relationship to a God who loves all of us and constantly calls us to connection and relationship.

Joanna joannaseibert.com