Mosaic Community

Mosaic Community

“When I am with a group of human beings committed to hanging in there through both the agony and the joy of community, I have a dim sense that I am participating in a phenomenon for which there is only one word...."glory." M. Scott Peck

rainbow

This morning I think of groups I am in, especially a Wednesday morning book group who has meet for more years than I can remember. We started in one church as an Education for Ministry or EfM group who later morphed into a Disciples of Christ in Community or DOCC Transforming the Literature of the Bible study group. We moved to other churches as the bishop reassigned me and continually collected different members. We continued to read contemporary literature and scripture and looked for patterns in the lives of those of our Judeo-Christian heritage that might speak to us today in modern language and agendas. Very few now attend the same congregation, and we are always enriched by people of other faith groups. We are now back meeting at our home by our fireplace in the den. My husband always had fresh flowers on the coffee table. There was something about meeting in a home as well as meeting with a group of people who have learned to accept and know each other so well they can easily ignite “God moments” in this eclectic community.

Another amazing image of such a community is a mosaic of pieces of cut glass of different shapes and colors. Each individual may be beautiful in his or her own right, but together a truly glorious multicolored image emerges.

I think of the story that I often tell children that was given to me so many years ago by Dean McMillin, another spiritual friend. God wanted to give part of God to God’s creation. God took a huge mirror, looked into it, and broke the mirror into many tiny pieces, sending them down to earth. God gave to every one of us a tiny piece, a reflection of God. We spend years trying to find that piece of God within ourselves, and when we do, we get so excited, “I have found God.”

That is where the journey stops for so many who try to make their piece, their image of God as the only image that is truly of God. But God calls us to another task. We are to fit our piece with that of others. As we fit more pieces of God that we find in others, our image of God becomes even larger.

We sometimes meet people whose image of God is so different, so foreign from ours. Sometimes these people are even our children! As we fit more and more pieces and see so many other parts that represent God, we come closer to their part way on the edge of our God image.

This is a journey of a lifetime, finding God in ourselves, connecting it to the God in others, and enlarging our image of God. A beautiful mosaic. It is called community.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

Outrageous

Outrageous

“We have lost, I think, our proper sense of outrage, and what God does is often outrageous for no matter how much we think we know how God will act, God frequently acts in other incomprehensible and outrageous ways.” Br. James Koester, SSJE, from “Brother, Give Us a Word,” a daily email sent to friends and followers of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, a religious order for men in the Episcopal/Anglican Church. www.ssje.org,.

joanna campbell

What is outrageous! Every sunrise and sunset. The flowers and flowering plants and bushes and trees that appear in sequence in early spring, the crocuses, camellias, redbuds, forsythia, daffodils, tulips, Bradford pears, climbing wisteria, azaleas, roses, lilies, irises, magnolias, hydrangeas, geraniums, and finally the crape myrtle that last through the summer. Is there more? What about the yellow and red and orange autumn leaves on a crisp fall day? What about the secret waterfall that only you and a few friends and family know about? What about floating the Buffalo River? What about the view from Petit Jean Mountain or Mount Magazine? What about Two Rivers Trail along the Arkansas River?

I am just starting and talking about a small part of Arkansas, but I know each of you has many more outrageous spectacles to share.

I don’t know about you, but Outrageous meets me at every turn. When we look for her, we only have words of gratitude. Outrageous are our family members and friends who still love us even after getting to know us better. Even more so is the outrageous love of God. This is love that God gives us in so more ways than we cannot understand, knowledge too deep for words. As we try to stay connected to God and listen, we get little outrageous nudges, “not right, yes this is right.” Whenever I go again those gut feelings, I end up in a bad place.

I look back on my life and see that I have been so cared for even when I went down wrong paths. This is outrageous. This is the outrageous love of God, to stick with us in our one step forward and two steps back. We cannot comprehend it. We can only try in our feeble way to observe it and remember it and give thanks for the outrageous love and beauty given us.

Joanna. joannaseibert.com

Blessing

Blessing

“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them,

The Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;

the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” Numbers 6:22-27

zain bhatti unsplash

This passage from Numbers is a frequent benediction in so many congregations. This morning for some reason I stop and listen to the words. We are giving God human characteristics. Using human terms and feelings for God, as you know, is a big word with rolling syllabuses called anthropomorphism. Sometimes this is our only way to express what we would like to say about God. It has its traps, but it can on occasion give us the tiniest glimpses of the magnitude of the love and care we receive from God.

How wonderful to pray that God’s face will be directed to us and even more so, God’s face will shine on us and we will receive God’s Grace. We are asking God to look directly at us, look us right in the eye and give us peace. We are indeed asking for a connection, a blessing, an ancient blessing that was given to the Hebrews and now to us many centuries later.

I love knowing that the ancient Hebrews were just people like us, asking for a blessing, a relationship, calling on God to look directly at us and to bring us peace.

What is the face of God? Is it the horizon, the stars, the oceans, the forests, the moon as far as we can see? Is it the solar system, the planets Mars and Jupiter, or is it a multitude of solar systems and beyond? We are full circle back to the word solar which pertains to the sun, a brightness that shines above all others for us. Yet, we know that the brightness of our sun pales in face of the love of our God that shines on sunny and dark days and nights.

Joanna. joannaseibert.com