Nature

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” —John Muir.

A Forward Day by Day writer today reminds us of this quote from John Muir, one of our country’s most famous naturalists and conservationists. Muir was instrumental in forming the National Park Service and the Sierra Club. In spiritual direction, when I ask someone, “Where do you find meaning or feel closest to God?” the most frequent answer is “outdoors in nature.”

In photosynthesis, trees transform light energy into chemical energy. I believe that the trees, the sun, the sky, the ocean, and the mountains also transform some energy inside of us when we are outdoors among them. We see beauty alive and well when before we could see only ugliness. We realize that there is something greater than ourselves, something that transcends our own problems. It is there for us. We do not have to pay for it. It is a gift.

My experience is that when I have difficulty sleeping due to physical, mental, or spiritual pain, it helps to go outside or sit by a window and watch the sunrise in the morning, even on a cloudy day. The sunrise, the world outside, can be a constant reminder of a new opening, a new beginning—the dawning of a fresh way to look at things.

Muir stands out as someone poised to make us aware of the marvel of nature, particularly the wilderness; but he also reminds us of our stewardship of this gift.

Consider the experience of viewing nature, the outdoors, as one of our most important lifesaving, life-renewing spiritual practices and remedies—better than drugs. But nature, like our own soul, also needs care and love.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

Release party!!!!!!!!!!!

Come and get a signed copy of the new book

Just in time for the holidays

A Spiritual Rx for Advent Christmas, and Epiphany

The Sequel to A Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter

Both are $18

All Money from sale of the books goes either to Camp Mitchel Camp and Conference Center in Arkansas or Hurricane Relief in the Diocese of Central Gulf Coast

Seibert’s, 27 River Ridge Road, Little Rock, Arkansas 72227

10 to noon, Saturday September 14, 2019

RSVP joannaseibert@me.com

Charleston: Feminine Spirit

“There is no power men can devise that can overcome the strength, dignity and courage of women. Trying to deny the rights of women is like trying to outlaw life itself. The Spirit that stands by her sisters stands eternal. The Mother that defends her daughters never sleeps.” —Steven Charleston Daily Facebook page.

Georges de La Tour The Newborn . Child 1645-1648 . Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes France

I remember when I first encountered the feminine Spirit of the God of my understanding. It was in the 1980s. I became acutely aware of the masculine slant of the words and works of the liturgy and practices of my tradition. There was no honoring of the feminine in language or in church practices. I tried changing pronouns in the service, and that worked for a while.

The altar party was made up of men. I longed to worship with other women, maybe even—heaven forbid—around an altar. So we started a group on Saturday mornings using our church facility to study and learn about feminine spirituality. We soon had a huge crowd. How comforting to know that others were hungry for this facet of the divine.

After a couple of years, as more women from very different traditions joined the group, the words and practices became even too radical for me. I knew I had to make a decision: remain in my tradition and wait for changes; or go over to join in practices that now were in territories too foreign for me.

I made the decision to go back to my tradition. Soon I saw improvements there. Our Prayer Book changed by adopting less masculine language. Women were given much greater roles in the Church.

I know and believe in the feminine Spirit of God that Bishop Charleston is talking about. It is a power that visited my mind and body and spirit when I least expected it; and for some time, I could not understand it. I had been living in the very masculine world of medicine at the time. Suddenly I saw a different way of looking at things, of working out problems, of relating to others, of worshiping and honoring and praising God.

Why I was awakened by this power, I do not know. It was like a Damascus Road experience. I had no choice but to pursue it. It was like experiencing another pregnancy. Perhaps this nudge came from one of my deceased grandmothers who lived under a masculine rule, but subtly tried to accomplish something different. I know only that my job now is to treasure the gift of the feminine spirit and to try to pass on or model the gift for my children and grandchildren. I know it can change the world just as it changed me.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com

Release party!!!!!!!!!!!

Come and get a signed copy of the new book

Just in time for the holidays

A Spiritual Rx for Advent Christmas, and Epiphany

The Sequel to A Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter

Both are $18

All Money from sale of the books goes either to Camp Mitchel Camp and Conference Center in Arkansas or Hurricane Relief in the Diocese of Central Gulf Coast

Seibert’s, 27 River Ridge Road, Little Rock, Arkansas 72227

10 to noon, Saturday September 14, 2019

RSVP joannaseibert@me.com

Schmidt: Feng Shui 2

Guest Writer Frederick Schmidt

“Whenever you are creating beauty around you, you are restoring your own soul.” —Alice Walker.

Not everyone who identifies as spiritual necessarily takes that larger responsibility into consideration. In fact, most of us are taught that spirituality is about getting God involved in our lives, fixing our problems, comforting us when we are down, showing us the way. Our culture has taught us to think that way; and some spiritualities are devoted to that understanding of the spiritual life.

Now, at one level, I’m all for God being involved in my life. I don’t relish having problems. When God seems particularly close, I enjoy the palpable sense of peace that goes along with such moments, and I never mind knowing what to do next. But, at the same time, I don’t think that is the purpose of the spiritual life.

We have a larger responsibility. Feng shui doesn’t quite capture that responsibility, but it hints at a concept found in the Torah, in the prophets, and in the teaching of Jesus— pretty much in the entire Bible, in fact. It’s called the righteousness of God—the order God intended, to put it in more accessible terms. Put another way, we are called into partnership with Jesus to care about the way in which the world around us does or does not conform to God’s design.

Contributing to the righteousness of God won’t be as easy as rearranging the furniture in a room. Doing that in our world is a much bigger job. Not everyone will think that God’s opinion on where the furniture should go will agree with us. We won’t even agree among ourselves on where it should be all the time. And this side of eternity the furniture will never be where all of it should be.

But we can witness to making God’s righteousness a reality. We can make personal choices and relate to one another in ways that reflect the presence of God in our lives. Those may not be large pieces of furniture, but it’s a good place to start.

Frederick Schmidt

Release party!!!!!!!!!!!

Come and get a signed copy of the new book

Just in time for the holidays

A Spiritual Rx for Advent Christmas, and Epiphany

The Sequel to A Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter

Both are $18

All Money from sale of the books goes either to Camp Mitchel Camp and Conference Center in Arkansas or Hurricane Relief in the Diocese of Central Gulf Coast

Seibert’s, 27 River Ridge Road, Little Rock, Arkansas 72227

10 to noon, Saturday September 14, 2019

RSVP joannaseibert@me.com