Nature's Voice

Nature’s Voice

“Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked..

They are like trees planted by streams of water; which yield their fruit in its season, and their leave do not wither. Psalm 1: 1, 3.

I remember last summer watching the rain come across the lake at Whitefish. As it reaches our shore on a gentle breeze the small leaves of the willows and aspen trees move back and forth producing a unique swishing sound. The vibrations caused by the wind and the rain on the fluttering leaves sound like some message the trees, the wind, and the rain are trying to tell us. Is it a cry for help? Are these the sound of Nature’s tears? I don’t believe it is a thank you for how we have cared for our natural world.

There is also a smell that comes with the sound of rain. It has been called earthy. It is thought to be the smell that comes as the earth is moved by the rain. Is it the fragrant perfume of the earth calling and enticing us to come and get to know it better and care for it?

Almost every person I talk to affirms their feeling of God’s presence when they are outside in the natural world. The trees, the sun, the moon, the rain, the flowers, the animals, the mountains, the sea, the earth are healers. They are mood changers, It is difficult not to be grateful looking across a peaceful lake in the cool mountain air and watching a mother duck care for and gather her eighteen ducklings as the rain has stopped. She makes a distinctive sound as well, maybe telling her ducklings that there is still danger when we are around

We are called to care for our churches and places of worship where we experience God. We are called to care for our friends who teach us about the love of God. We are likewise called to care for the natural world which also calls us back to the Creator God.

Joanna. joannaseibert.com

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

I remember flying back to Arkansas from Montana and hoping 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 was 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 experiences of the majestic beauty of the precious present.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

Charleston: Sacred Within

Charleston: Sacred Within

“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 Post, June 27, 2018

I remember passing 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 had 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