Arthur: Literature for Pentecost

At the Stillpoint “is a journey of the imagination guided by poets and authors, both classic and contemporary, who have known the things of God but speak in metaphor.” —Sarah Arthur in At the Still Point (Paraclete Press, 2011), p. 7.

At the Still Point by Sarah Arthur is a literary compilation of daily and weekly readings and prayers designed for the long green liturgical season between the Day of Pentecost and Advent. Arthur has also published similar guides for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany (Light Upon Light); and for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter (Between Midnight and Dawn).

In these twenty-nine weeks between the Day of Pentecost and the first Sunday in Advent, Arthur kindles our imagination as she exposes us to brief excerpts or short works of well-known writers—as well as offerings from authors we may not know but should! Arthur warns us that as we encounter some of the readings in this anthology, there should be an alert: “Warning: Powerful Spiritual Moment Ahead!” She suggests that we read these passages not as assignments for our English Literature class or for pleasure, but as liturgical pieces for worship and especially prayer.

Each week begins with an outline for the next seven days, consisting of an opening prayer, Scripture passages, readings from literature, a place for personal prayer and reflection, and a closing prayer. Arthur suggests applying the ancient principles of lectio divina or divine reading that many of us have used with Scripture, now applied to selected weekly poetry and fiction writings. We read the passage, meditate on it, pay attention to a word or phrase that connects to us, and finally rest in God’s presence with what we have experienced. It has been helpful to me to carry that word or phrase with me during the day, or perhaps the whole week. Since this process is now being used for literature and poetry rather than with Scripture, Arthur has christened it holy reading or lectio sacra.

I invite you to journey with me and with Sarah Arthur during this “Ordinary Season” with an extraordinary spiritual practice of daily worship and prayer.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

Morning Prayer

“But as for me, O LORD, I cry to you for help;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.” —Psalm 88:14.

A spiritual discipline that many people use is beginning and sometimes ending the day reading and meditating on Holy Scripture. Many denominations follow a daily lectionary of Scripture readings so that over a certain period of time the reader has studied major parts of the whole Bible. In the Episcopal tradition, the Book of Common Prayer lists a two-year cycle of daily Lessons taken from the Psalms, the Hebrew Scriptures, a New Testament letter, and one of the Gospels for each morning and evening. By the end of each seven-week period, the reader has digested the entire Book of Psalms. After the two-year cycle, the reader has been exposed twice to all of the books of the New Testament and once to pertinent portions of the Hebrew Scriptures.

The Scripture readings can also be done as part of a structured morning and evening prayer service read alone or with others. These Daily Offices provide a contemplative framework for regular use as well as offering a pattern for regular reading of the Bible. Some people use a book of daily meditations that also contains Scripture readings; others use publications such as the Methodist The Upper Room, the Episcopal Forward Day By Day, and Catholic resources The Catholic Moment, The Word Among Us, and Being Catholic. Some of these meditations are available online for reading or listening.

The Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer are also online at many sites. One of the most popular office sites is The Mission of St. Clare www.missionstclare.com. I use the Daily Office online from the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis: dailyoffice.wordpress.com.

I hope to hear from many others about their use of other daily meditations and ways of structuring daily Scripture readings.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

catherine Marshall: The Helper

When we try it on our own, we are seeking to usurp the Helper’s place. The result of attempting in the flesh to convict another of sin is wreckage—defensiveness, anger, estrangement, loss of self-worth, defeatism, depression—whereas, when the Spirit does this corrective work, it is “good” hurt, the kind that leaves no damage, that never plunges us into despair or hopelessness but is always healing in the end.”

—Catherine Marshall in The Helper (Chosen Books, 1978), pp. 214-215.

More than forty-five years ago, when our medical practice at Children’s Hospital was just starting, my husband and I were not as busy and were able to go downtown for lunch—and then perhaps browse Cokesbury Bookstore before returning to the hospital. One day I saw a book by Catherine Marshall, The Helper, on the front sales table for two dollars. I had remembered that she had written A Man Called Peter about her husband, a Scottish immigrant who became the chaplain of the United States Senate, but died an early death. I particularly loved the movie, so I could not resist the bargain. I paid the two dollars, and it changed my life.

I had no concept of the Holy Spirit. Suddenly I was presented with a part of God that I could relate to who was always with me. I had had great difficulty relating to God the Father and Jesus. One was a kind old man with a beard in the sky and the other was some kind of television evangelist flipping through the Bible who wanted to save me.

For years, I held on to the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Helper who was always beside me, guiding me if I chose. This sustained me for a long time, until I was able to have a deeper relationship with the other two parts of the Trinity. I am constantly amazed how God, the Holy Spirit, works: a Presbyterian minister’s daughter I would never meet who was raised in Keyser, West Virginia, with my father, the son of the Methodist minister in the area; a slow time in our practice; a Methodist bookstore; a bargain table; a New York Times best seller; a movie; and two dollars.

My favorite quote by Catherine Marshall was about answered prayer. She prayed for patience, and God gave her the slowest possible housekeeper. I wept when I heard about Catherine Marshall’s death at age sixty-eight in 1983 just before Holy Week.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com