Charleston: Learning to Read Spiritual Signs

Charleston: Learning to Read Spiritual Signs

“You have seen the signs around you for some time now. You are beginning to understand which way the wind is blowing. The spiritual life is not an exercise of imagination, but of interpretation. We see the signs. It is understanding them as a coherent message that takes skill. The handwriting on the wall tells us nothing unless we have learned to read.” —Bishop Steven Charleston, Facebook page.

“Learning to read the signs on the wall.” Bishop Charleston is indeed giving us a good metaphor for living and discerning the spiritual life. As spiritual friends, we help each other see where God is working in our lives. We have friends helping us connect the dots, suggesting that a storm may be coming when we miss the signs. We are called to remember how God led us in our past. We have seen the signs in the past. When one of us cannot presently see the signs of God alive in our lives, those of us who can see help out each other.

This is why God calls us to community. We cannot do this alone. All of our spiritual exercises, prayer, contemplation, study, Centering Prayer, the labyrinth, praying the Rosary, intentional walking, are all tools to help us interpret the handwriting on the wall—the hand of God caring for us, leading us, never abandoning us. Some spiritual disciplines we practice by ourselves; others, such as corporate worship, we do together. Whether we experience these disciplines alone or together, we are called to share what we learn with each other. Discernment as to where we should go or the action to take next is most effectively realized in community.

I do have friends who sit alone and meditate and who say they perceive the points at which God is working in their lives. By listening, they find out what they should do. All the better for them. I could never do this except on very rare occasions. My experience is that others can see signs I have missed, and often the course of action I should take is readily apparent to them. All of this, of course, does involve a great deal of trust.

Joanna joannseibert.com

Purchase a copy of A Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter from me, joannaseibert@me.com, from Wordsworth Books in Little Rock, or from Amazon.

Koinonia

Koinonia

“All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” —Acts 2: 44-45.

In her brilliant sermon on June 3, 2018, Patricia Matthews reminds us of the winning word in last year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee that weekend: Koinonia.

You can read Patricia’s sermon online at the website of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Little Rock, or listen to it on St. Mark’s Facebook page. Fourteen-year-old Karthik Nemmani from McKinney, Texas, correctly spells this word of Greek origin meaning Christian fellowship or communion with God. It refers especially to fellowship with other Christians in community. Patricia reminds us that this 91st National Spelling Bee with the 515 participants who qualified was televised on none other than ESPN, a sports network on which we more often watch football or basketball or baseball or soccer!

When I heard the winning word that weekend and Sunday from Patricia, my heart skipped a beat. Koinonia had been on my heart for almost a week. Langley, our oldest granddaughter, had graduated from high school and was headed to the University of Georgia. I had been praying about how I could support her in this decision. The answer came as I was reading a review of two books about Clarence Jordan in The Christian Century.

I want to remind Langley about Mr. Jordan, who is perhaps one of the most outstanding graduates of the University of Georgia. His competency in Greek led him to produce his “Cotton Patch” version of the New Testament, as he strove to communicate the Bible’s message in everyday language. Jordan also founded Koinonia Farm as a farming community of believers sharing their lives and resources, following the example of the first Christian communities. Out of this movement came Habitat for Humanity International by Millard Fuller, and later The Fuller Center for Housing, as well as Jubilee Partners and much support for the Civil Rights Movement.

Also that Sunday after church a group of women met to begin discernment toward creating a Daughters of the King chapter at St. Mark’s. Daughters of the King also seek koinonia—specifically fellowship with other women who want a deeper spirituality and relationship to God through prayer, service, and evangelism.

I am going to keep koinonia on my heart for a few more days to see if I observe any more serendipitous connections of synchronicity in our world.

Joanna joannseibert.com

Purchase a copy of A Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter from me, joannaseibert@me.com, from Wordsworth Books in Little Rock, or from Amazon.

Peace of God

Peace of God

“Jesus doesn’t offer peace of mind. He offers the peace of reconciliation.” —Diane Roth, “Living the Word” in The Christian Century (3/14/2018).

Turtle Tracks by Marci Hixson

This response by Diane Roth to Lectionary Readings for the Second Sunday in Easter from John 20:19-31 is another wake-up call for us to reconcile with those with whom we are having difficulty: loving that neighbor who is so different; loving our relatives who look at our political scene wearing a very different pair of glasses; seeing Christ in the most unlovable person with whom we work; loving those whose belief systems are the exact opposite of ours. I could go on for several more pages of examples.

A verse that haunts me that is often said at the Offertory is Matthew 5:23-24: “So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.”

Family systems models tells us that we must make every possible attempt to get back into relationship with any family members from whom we are estranged.

The heart of twelve-step recovery is looking at the resentments we have toward others, recognizing our part in causing the estrangement from others, and then making amends, seeing how we are alike instead of seeing our differences.

All of these teachings are reminding us that when we cannot love our neighbor, it is hard to love God; for the God of our understanding always also lives in our neighbor, just as God lives in us.

This is an important message for us to share with spiritual friends. We may not be the trained person who is able to help our friends reconcile with each other; but we are called to share our experience that reconciliation with our neighbor is a straight pathway to the peace of God.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com

Purchase a copy of A Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter from me, joannaseibert@me.com, from Wordsworth Books in Little Rock, or from Amazon.