Spiritual Compass

“Within each one of us there is a spiritual compass. It points always toward the good, toward what is holy. The compass is made of our values, what we believe and hold sacred, and over the years our experience makes the compass within us even more accurate, refining our ability to seek the right direction in life, making us even more sensitive to the pull of compassion and common sense. Therefore, we do not have to be afraid that we will get lost, wandering the wilderness of this age. We only have to follow where our heart leads and our reason points the way.” —Steven Charleston, Daily Facebook post.

Cynthia Bourgeault would agree with Steven Charleston about a spiritual compass. She calls it an inward GPS (Global Positioning System), similar to the one we use in our car to get us to the right location. What we need to know is where we are—and then the address of where we want to go—and the GPS will get us there.

Sometimes we are not certain of exactly where we are; but we have a good idea of where we want to go. Our aim above all is to keep our connection to God. I love it when our ideal location is not yet on the map, and the GPS takes us as close as possible. This also may be true in regard to our spiritual life.

Bourgeault calls our heart a “God Positioning System.” When it is attuned, turned on, it will allow us to achieve balance in a whole different way: perceiving by separating and differentiating things from each other; perceiving the whole and discerning our place within the whole. For her, becoming attuned to this spiritual GPS comes through the contemplative practice of Centering Prayer.

[See Cynthia Bourgeault, The Shape of God: Deepening the Mystery of the Trinity (CAC, 2004), disc 4; and Cynthia Bourgeault, “How Change Happens” in Transgression (CAC, 2014), Vol. 2 No. 1, p. 86.]

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

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Many Religious Traditions

“We are all rooted together in the ground of consciousness that is God’s gift to all of us, and our joining is absolute. When the Islamic mullah prays with true and quiet heart, I believe that the souls of the Iowa farmer and the Welsh miner are touched. When the gong sounds in the Japanese monastery and the monks enter the timeless silence of Zazen, their quiet nourishes the Brazilian native and the Manhattan executive. When Jews and Christians pray with true willingness, the Hindu scientist and the Russian policeman are enriched.”

—Gerald G. May in Will and Spirit (HarperOne, 1982), pp. 319–320.

Many authors remind us of our connection to Nature and to the world around us. Others remind us of our connection to the poor, the weak, the sick, the lonely. Gerald May reminds us of our connection to other religions—how the Spirit moves in so many different paths that we do not understand, too deep for words.

There is more here, though, than just recognizing God at work in so many varied ways. May is also telling us that we are intimately connected by this Spirit. What we do to further the Spirit, to connect to God in our own day, in our own way, makes a difference across the globe in some distant rain forest.

Again, this relationship is a deep mystery beyond our knowing. Sometimes when I read this passage from May, I can sit and almost feel the Iowa farmer working his black dirt, since we spent four years in Iowa City in training. Then I try to cross the Atlantic to England. I can connect to the shepherd and his dogs and sheep striding through green pastures, since we have made several trips to England and Scotland.

Because of our political situation these days, I am having more difficulty connecting to the people in Russia. I have never been there; but I always wanted to go to St. Petersburg to see Rembrandt’s Return of the Prodigal Son in the Hermitage Museum. The next time I watch a newscast from Russia, I will look and try to imagine the people there. I think this could make a difference. I hope they are doing the same for us.

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

Vamping

“Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life, bringing peace, abolishing strife.” ―Kahlil Gibran.

austin chan . unsplash

Once a week I play harp duets with a very talented harpist who tolerates my missed or absent notes and tries to teach an old harpist new tricks and fingering. Today Pam also taught me a new word, vamping. She said, “I will vamp you in.” She plays a short series of chords before I start my part of the piece. I really like the word. Vamping. It means we play a simple chord or beat, usually as we wait for someone else to start—and then perhaps keep quietly playing the background chords as the other player takes the melody.

I think this is what meeting with a spiritual friend is like. I may ask a simple question, such as: “Where did you see God in your life today?” I may then repeat the question when the subject seems to change. Often I keep saying prayers that the Holy Spirit will guide us. These prayers are my chords.

Our job is to stay connected to the beat, as we listen for the rhythm and melody of the presence of the Holy Spirit. We are to stay in the background and support and undergird the person we are with. We keep the beat going and listen and pray so the Holy Spirit can come in strong, guiding and directing us both.

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