Buechner: Lent, Ash Wednesday

March 6, 2019 joanna seibert

Buechner: Lent Ash Wednesday

“In many cultures there is an ancient custom of giving a tenth of each year's income to some holy use. For Christians, to observe the forty days of Lent is to do the same thing with roughly a tenth of each year's days.” Frederick Buechner, “Lent,” Originally published in Whistling in the Dark: Doubter’s Dictionary, “(Harper&Row, 1988) p. 82.

We begin our Lenten journey on this Ash Wednesday. It is a day to remember our mortality, "dust you are and to dust you shall return." I think of my favorite aunt who had Alzheimer's for over ten years who died today on Ash Wednesday.

I watch the members of our parish receive the imposition of ashes. Some have cancer or are ill, and I know well they worry whether they will be present in this body at this church next Ash Wednesday. Some are filled with tears at the altar. I wonder who will meet death face to face before next Easter. Could it be even myself or a member of my family?

I travel in time back to the Cathedral School where I remember comments from the elementary students as we placed ashes on their foreheads. “Will it stay on? How do I look? You look funny.” Now a beautiful young mother holding her three-month old baby girl comes up to the altar. Our priest puts the sign of the cross on the mother's forehead. I do not want her to put the cross on this baby's head. I watch as she asks the mother and then puts the black ashes on the tiny forehead. The little girl does not cry out, but I want to stand up and cry, "No, don't do that!" My life profession has been to take care of small babies. I do not want to think of this precious one dying. I will not permit it. I still have no answers as how to handle the death of a child.

Ash Wednesday is a reminder of our immortality. I still have difficulty with it. There is a huge part of me that lives as though I and others will live forever. Easter tells me there is more than this life, resurrection, what Barbara Crafton calls TheAlso Life, but I still cling to this present moment.

I think again of my aunt. In fact, I feel her presence. A friend calls to tell me that a dear friend is having her first baby today and has asked for prayers. I pray that the spirit of my aunt will be by the bed of my friend to guide and protect her and her unborn child.

One friend dies, another is born. We all carry the blackened sign of the cross on our forehead. I return to the Cathedral School and remember a sermon by Beth Maze, “creation is made from dust.”

It is good that we have these forty days to ponder all this.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

One opportunity Sunday March 10 to purchase a signed copy of A Daily Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Little Rock in the narthex after the 8 and 10:30 services. Proceeds from the book go for hurricane relief in the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast.

Present Moment

March 5, 2019 joanna seibert

Present Moment

“During these turbulent times we must remind ourselves repeatedly that life goes on. This we are apt to forget. But the wisdom of life transcends our wisdoms; the purpose of life outlasts our purposes; the process of life cushions our processes…

It is just as important as ever to attend to the little graces by which the dignity of our lives is maintained and sustained.

Birds still sing;

The stars continue to cast their gentle gleam over the desolation of battlefields;

And the heart is still inspired by the kind word and the gracious deed.”

-Howard Thurman, “Life Goes On.,” Meditations of the Heart, (Beacon Press, 1981), pp. 110-111, InwardOutward.org, November 12, 2018.

On the last Sunday of Epiphany as we read about Jesus’ transfiguration, I sit in the early morning before dawn and watch light coming into the tiny part of this universe outside my window. Initially it is pitch dark. I am unable to discern where the trees are. I can barely see the house in the next yard. Then the trees appear as separate streaks of the dark, next the leaves begin to form, and finally I can make out the outline of the bird feeder outside my window. I hear the birds singing but none have come yet to the feeder. With more light, a multitude appear, and they eat their breakfast as I am doing the same. I observe them, but I rarely see them looking my way. They are intent on what is presented before them.

I have noticed that if I become distracted or look away even for a few seconds, I miss an important part of this developing scene that blends seamlessly from one part to another. I learn that this day has come for a unique visit, and I can easily miss an integral part of her introduction if I do not stay in the present moment with her. I have missed a measured part of who she is becoming.

We learn so much from our outside world, but especially at sunrise or sunset. Both are times for us to practice for a few minutes at the most, what it means to be living in the present, observing and living into each moment of time, each slowly progressing change as we sit or stand and watch a gradual transition of light from dark or dark from light. It is like seeing the parts of a puzzle move together before our eyes.

If only I could describe what happens to our bodies, our minds, our souls as we stop and live into the present moment presented to us by the natural world outside of us. There is a feeling of connectedness, joy, and peace. Our heart rate and breathing slows down. We come to a brief awareness of the gift and beauty of each day. We come to know all shall be well, all shall be well.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com

Night Time Prayers

March 4, 2019 joanna seibert

Night Time Prayers, Compline

“Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or

weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who

sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless

the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the

joyous; and all for your love’s sake.” Amen.

St. Augustine of Hippo. Book of Common Prayer p. 134. Church Publishing.

This gift from St. Augustine is one of the night time prayers from compline, an evening service to be read just before bedtime. The brief prayer service can be said by individuals but also by families or groups as a gathering just before retiring. I particularly remember when our friends Barbara and Hap Hoffman came to our house and said compline with our family every night for six weeks while I was recovering from surgery.

In my medical practice, this prayer was meaningful as I could visualize the people I knew working at night at our Children’s Hospital and the patients we were all helping to care for. This prayer also gave me strength when I was on call at the hospital at night, knowing that there were people all over the globe saying these prayers. As compline became a more regular part of my rule of life, I began to visualize people in other professions working at night in grocery stores, restaurants, airlines, police stations. I remembered those dying as well as those mourning the death of a loved one. I began praying for the joyous.

All of these prayers ever so briefly have helped me get out of myself and all my problems as I began praying and thinking about others. This service calms my soul, and is better than any sleeping pill or drug or drink.

There are also beautiful night time prayers in A New Zealand Prayer Book (p. 184, HarperCollins 1989). I especially relate to one line, “what has been done has been done; what has not been done, let it be.”

I keep remembering the CS Lewis quote you will often hear from me, “We do not pray to change God. We pray to change ourselves.” We can be especially vulnerable to change in our night time prayers.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com

One Opportunity next week to purchase a signed copy of A Daily Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter

St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Little Rock, Narthex after 8 and 10:30 services March 10

Proceeds from this book go for Hurricane Relief in the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coa