Esther Harding: Change

“We cannot change anyone else; we can change only ourselves, and then usually only when the elements that are in need of reform have become conscious through their reflection in someone else.” —M. Esther Harding in The ‘I’ and the ‘Not-I’: A Study in the Development of Consciousness at InwardOutward.org.

Esther Harding was a British American who is considered to be the first significant Jungian Analyst to practice in this country. Her first book, The Way of All Women (1975), was one of the first books I read in my early days of seeking to connect to a feminine spirituality.

President Jimmy Carter wrote recently about getting to the place where we can give thanks for our difficulties. That is almost impossible; but I can see his reasoning a little more clearly in Esther Harding’s writings. We wear our character defects and self-centeredness like an old bathrobe that is ugly and tattered, but comfortable and a known entity. Our habitual manner of life has become our familiar identity. We can only recognize these defects and behavior patterns in others, as we are repulsed by them—and finally identify them as our own. Our behavior and reaction to the world is what is keeping us from our connection to God.

I continually am amazed how God uses everything, everything to bring us back to God’s love, to connect us to the God within us and within our neighbor. We find out what is blocking us from God’s love by first seeing the barriers in someone else and realizing how unbeautiful they are.

At some point, when the time is right, I can share Harding’s insights with spiritual friends who also are suffering. I, as well, have spiritual friends who listen to me when suffering brings awareness that opens up a crack of light into my own life.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com

Rohr: Nature

“If you scale chronological history down to the span of one year, with the Big Bang on January 1, then our species, Homo sapiens, doesn’t appear until 11:59 p. m. on December 31. That means our written Bible and the church appeared in the last nanosecond of December 31. I can’t believe that God had nothing to say until the last nanosecond—Richard Rohr, Daily Meditation, Center for Action and Contemplation.

We are staying at a favorite hotel by the Mississippi River. We watch the sun give its last hurrah of pink and orange as it sets over the rapidly moving water, racing to New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. We follow a rare treat of the migration of a super full moon that is brighter and larger, appearing to be closer to the earth than usual. It finally sets over the north shore of the Mississippi River and quickly disappears into a cloudbank at early dawn.

There is a gentle breeze blowing the last of the leaves from their trees near the water’s edge. The cottonwood leaves seem to be the last holdouts. As the wind blows their palm shapes, they appear to be clapping, praising their Creator— in awe of the spectacle we have seen just before their own last flight.

Nature is telling us something. There is still amazing beauty in the world. Something greater than we can ever imagine fashioned it all. All of nature seems to be giving thanks and honoring its Creator. Dare we consider joining the dance and doing the same?

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com

De Mello: Intercessory Prayer

“It is extremely important that you become aware of Jesus and get in touch with him at the beginning of your intercessory prayer. Otherwise your intercession is in danger of becoming not prayer, but an exercise of remembering people. The danger is that your attention will be focused only on the people you are praying for and not on God.” —Anthony de Mello in Sadhana: A Way to God (Image Books), p. 126.

De Mello’s book has had a major impact on my spiritual practices. The awareness exercises of my surroundings, my body, my senses have been the most practical avenues of learning how to experience God’s presence. I knew of these exercises before, and tried them without success; but for some reason they now have become an important spiritual practice to me.

One more lesson to remember: Spiritual practices that were not meaningful in the past can become important later on.

De Mello suggests that rather than trying to envision the face or clothes of Jesus, we might seek a sense of Jesus in the shadows, calling him by as many names as we are led to. He recommends imagining Jesus in our prayers in an empty chair beside us. This can be one of the most consistent ways of experiencing the presence of Christ.

These exercises for intercessory prayer can change the way we pray and talk about prayer to others, as we remember Jesus as the great intercessor; imagine Jesus’ presence directly beside us; and visualize those we are praying for with Jesus, laying hands on them.

The book’s last prayers deal with turning desires and prayers over to God one at a time—praising God at all times for everything, good and bad. This also can change our prayer practice and how we live our lives.

De Mello invites us to live and pray intimately, becoming a part of the great mystery of God’s love for us and all creation in the present moment. He believes that this precious now, the present moment, is where God meets us.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com