Charleston: Trees

“My great grandfather told me this long ago and I never forgot it: trees are the keepers of secrets. The Creator gave them this honor because they are infinitely patient and trustworthy. So if you have a burden on your heart, something that has bothered you for a long time, something you wish you could finally let go, then take it to the tree. You will know the right one when you see it. It will be an old tree with many branches. Go stand beneath it and tell your story. Then when you walk away what you have said will stay there, in the safe-keeping of the old tree, and you will be burdened by it no more.” —Bishop Steven Charleston, Facebook page, September 1, 2018.

My grandfather and my father both introduced me to the spirituality of trees. My grandfather took me on nature walks on his farm each week, along the Mattaponi River and its marshlands. My father was a forester who planted millions of trees. I still grieve to see trees cut down. I often like to imagine what secrets old trees have, as I briefly touch them, passing by them on my way to appointments.

All of my children spend much more time outdoors than I do. I don’t remember teaching them the value of this. Maybe this wisdom has been passed down by my grandfather, whom they never knew, and my father, whom they barely knew. This may not be true, but I will still treasure this possibility in my imagination.

I do believe that we meet God in the outdoors so much easier than in most indoor places. Sitting and standing by trees reduces the tension in our bodies. Our minds slow down to a slightly lower speed. We become grounded to the earth. We begin to live in the present moment, and we meet the God of our understanding in that moment.

When we are at peace we do not obsess about the past. We may remember our mistakes, but we have the desire to move on, seeking to learn from them. We surrender to the experience, and for a few seconds stop worrying about the future. For a brief moment we become the person God created us to be.

We know from biology class that trees save our lives by changing our carbon dioxide waste into life-giving oxygen that enables us to breathe again. Trees also save our lives mentally and spiritually by standing as a constant reminder of a God who has provided for us beauty beyond our imagination.

Outside my window is a canopy of trees that have become like old friends. The sun is almost up. I will wait until sunrise and look out so I can see them in all their glory before beginning this day.

I give thanks for all who have led me outdoors to the trees. Perhaps I can do the same today for someone else.

Joanna . joannaseibert.com

Book Signing Wordsworth Books

Saturday, November 2, 2019 1 to 3 pm

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. Money from sale of the books goes to Camp Mitchel Camp and Conference Center in Arkansas or Hurricane Relief in

The Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast

Charleston: Heaven and Gated Communities

‘My problem with the idea of heaven as a gated community, where only some people will be allowed to enter, is memory. Even if I got to be one of the chosen few, I would not enjoy being in heaven because I would remember all of the good people I knew who didn't make it. I would miss them. I would worry about them. I would want to help them. So the private heaven idea just doesn't work for me. I know, admire and respect too many people from too many different walks of life to let that life end in anything but love and community.” Steven Charleston, Facebook Page

Bishop Charleston is telling us in no uncertain terms that heaven is not a gated community where only those with the right code can get in. We all have our own image of heaven. We long for it to be a place where we see those we have loved who have died. We long to find a place of peace and love. When we have connected to a God of our understanding, we experience love in a new way that also brings us to see ourselves and our neighbors in a new light of love. Something tells us instinctively that this love never dies. Perhaps the only thing we carry with us into life after death is love. Perhaps what we most leave on this earth is love. I have been taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is not only after we die, but it is right here in the present as well. Our choice is to be aware of it.

If heaven in life after death is not gated, perhaps that tells us something about the heaven we may know on this earth. It as well is not gated. It is learning to love all we come in contact with every day. As we do this and look for the Christ, the holiness in each other, our concept of who we will relate to in life beyond death also enlarges.

Our city mourns today one of our African American policemen, Marc Collins, who died much too young from cancer. I am reading all the tributes to him. I have known him for almost 30 years. I only saw love as I remember him as a friend, a neighborhood officer, a member of a SWAT team, a Navy Seal. I am overcome with love remembering him. He left so much love on this earth and I know he takes it with him as well. Marc is one more person teaching us that heaven is a place of love and is not gated on this earth or in the life to come.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com

Book Signing Wordsworth Books

Saturday, November 2, 2019 1 to 3 pm

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. Money from sale of the books goes to Camp Mitchel Camp and Conference Center in Arkansas or Hurricane Relief in

The Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast

John McCain

“But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,

and no torment will ever touch them.

In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,

and their departure was thought to be a disaster,

and their going from us to be their destruction;

but they are at peace.

For though in the sight of others they were punished,

their hope is full of immortality.

Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,

because God tested them and found them worthy of himself.

Those who trust in him will understand truth,

and the faithful will abide with him in love,

because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,

and he watches over his elect.” —Wisdom 3:1-5, 9.

Along with many Americans, I spent several days watching memorials to Senator John McCain last year. On the Saturday morning of his funeral, I watched the service at the National Cathedral. I became awed at the Cathedral almost thirty years ago when our friends Joanne and Allan Meadors introduced us to it through the National Cathedral Association, and we became hooked. For twenty years we visited it at least twice a year, often staying at the College of Preachers on its grounds. I am still reeling from this memorable service on that Saturday morning held in such a familiar sacred space.

Former Senator Kelly Ayotte read these beautiful scriptural words from the Book of Wisdom, which are recommended for the Burial Office.

What a tribute that a man can so inspire us through his death—by how he lived, and even how he planned his burial service. I can barely talk about it, much less write about it. Many of us were reduced to tears by Meghan McCain’s tribute to her father. This is a real sign of greatness, when a man so involved in politics is also deeply cared for and loved by his children.

The entire service was inspiring, a remembrance of an icon—of someone who made mistakes and owned up to them; who dared to cross the aisle at the Senate to listen to representatives of the other party; who learned to speak his own truth and face the consequences.

Many believe that he grew in character as a result of his five years of captivity in North Vietnam as a prisoner of war. Most of us cannot imagine what that was like. McCain is a role model for us of someone who turned his trials into gold.

I see many lives in captivity, not in the way McCain’s was, but caught in the captivity of addictions or addictive lifestyles. I daily encounter ordinary men and women who have learned from and come out of that life into what Christians would call a life of resurrection, a new life beyond anything they could have dreamed. Many who knew them in the past can no longer recognize them—physically, mentally, or spiritually.

John McCain’s service was a service of resurrection, a reminder for all of us that there is another way to live and that we can begin that journey before death.

Joanna . joannaseibert.com

Book Signing Wordsworth Books

Saturday, November 2, 2019 1 to 3 pm

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. Money from sale of the books goes to Camp Mitchel Camp and Conference Center in Arkansas or Hurricane Relief in

The Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast