Marrying Orthodoxy to Orthopraxis

“There’s a movement in the church to marry action and contemplation, to connect orthodoxy and orthopraxis. We’re not throwing out the things we believe, but we’re also focusing on practices that work out those beliefs. In the past few decades Christianity has primarily been about what we believe. But in Jesus we see an invitation to join our actions with a movement rather than ideas and doctrine. People have grown tired of a Christianity that can say what it believes on paper but doesn’t have anything to show with our lives.”

—Adapted from Shane Claiborne, When Action Meets Contemplation (Center for Action and Contemplation, 2010), disc 1.

Orthopraxis, or practicing our faith, is different from orthodoxy, an adherence to a certain belief. It is a paradox. We need both. We need to frame and reframe what we believe; but if we do not put that belief into practice we are like a “noisy gong.” I am one of those people Shane Claiborne talks about who has lots of t-shirts spelling out social justice issues—but until I write letters or make phone calls or visit those in prisons or those who are sick or in trouble,

I am not putting that belief into practice. I have learned this most pointedly from younger people. The women in my family marched in the women’s march the day after the recent presidential inauguration. We were talking with our feet. We were inspired to do more by the crowds and speakers at this protest.

That day has become like an icon for me about reaching out from the words of my comfortable t-shirt and visiting and making calls and protecting those in need. I know in my heart that this is the way the Spirit works. We are called to study about God and the Spirit, but we are also compelled to find the God within ourselves that will lead us to discover the God in others.

I share with spiritual friends that when I am attempting to find God in others, God is most apparent in those in need. God most readily shines in those who are sick or dying or seeking recovery, or in those at our food pantry or at our dinners for homeless veterans. Practicing the ministry of orthopraxy teaches us the most about orthodoxy, about God.

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

Gratitude

“Live your life so that the fear of death can never enter your heart. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light. Give thanks for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. And if perchance you see no reason for giving thanks, rest assured the fault is in yourself.” —Ascribed to Chief Tecumseh.

aaron burden . unsplash

Gratitude is definitely a secret to a Spirit-filled life. Those in 12-step recovery groups believe that we are less likely to go back to our old addiction—what they call “a slip”—if we continue in the way of gratitude each day. Whenever someone in recovery is not doing well, the most-suggested remedy is to start making a gratitude list to refer to every day, especially at night.

The insight from Trees for Life founder Balbir Mathur that he “travels in a boat called Surrender. His two oars are Forgiveness and Gratitude” which serve as a guide for our life. As long as we can surrender to a power greater than ourselves and are willing to forgive and remain grateful for what we have been given, we live a life of peace. Our blood pressure stays closer to normal. We are less likely to become irritated at all of life’s hiccups: our computer is not responding; someone has said something unkind; We have expectations of ourselves and others that are not being met; our body is not working the way it should; We are not getting our way or achieving our plan for the day.

Guided by forgiveness and gratitude, we can live assured that there is a grand plan beyond our own.

My husband and I once made fun of an older man, a friend of his father’s, who so often said, “You must have an attitude of gratitude.” Well, we both know now that there is no greater wisdom for living than this simple formula.

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

Thoreau: Superficial Life

“When our life ceases to be inward and private, conversation degenerates into mere gossip. We rarely meet a man who can tell us any news which he has not read in a newspaper, or been told by his neighbor. … In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the poor fellow who walks away with the greatest number of letters proud of his extensive correspondence has not heard from himself this long while.” —Henry David Thoreau.

spiritual friends

My spiritual director sent this to me today. Most of us do not go to the post office, and letter writing is becoming a lost art. But we are now judged by how many Facebook friends we have! I have a Facebook page in order to keep informed about family and friends. But a Facebook message is very different from a phone call or a visit or a conversation over a meal. When we are face to face we can share what is really going on with us. It is then that we may bare our soul and look for the Christ in our friend—and hope that the Christ within us will guide us. Actually meeting with spiritual friends is not optional for the inner life, the life of the soul. It is mandatory.

Even better is meeting over a meal. Replenishing our bodies mysteriously opens up our mind to nourish the soul. Here is where we see Christ in each other, and maybe even get a little glimpse of the Christ in ourselves.

I was in a pediatric radiology medical group for more than thirty years. We each had our own agenda and our areas of expertise. We were having difficulty making decisions and seeing the importance of each other’s plans. We decided to meet for lunch once a week and just talk to each other about what was going on in our lives. It took a while, but miracles happened. We began to look at each other’s ideas in a different light. The mysterious result of meeting and talking to each other and having a regularly shared meal was that the food and conversation nourished us into forming a real community.

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