According to Your Word

 Lord’s Prayer: Let It Be with Me According to Your Word

“In the Episcopal order of worship, the priest sometimes introduces the Lord’s Prayer with the words, ‘Now, as our Savior Christ hath taught us, we are bold to say...”’— Frederick Buechner, originally published in Whistling in the Dark from Frederick Buechner Center, Frederick Buechner Quote of the Day.

Annunciation. John Collier

Buechner reminds us of how bold we are to say perhaps the most recited Christian prayer. But, of course, it is not just a Christian prayer. A Jewish Rabbi wrote it in response to questions by other Jews about how to pray.

My experience is that whenever I visit the sick or homebound, or those in need, no matter their mental state, they say or show some awareness of the Lord’s Prayer. I have seen those who seem unresponsive twitch or move a hand, mouth a word, have a change in cardiac rhythm, or even begin praying when we close our prayers with this prayer. It is powerful and perhaps one of the last parts of our memory to leave us.

Buechner, however, emphasizes the prayer’s boldness. If we could only find a little of what we are praying for in this prayer in our lives, the world would be dramatically changed, “turning our lives and our wills over to the care of God,” as those in 12-step programs pray daily. This is similar to what Luke quotes Mary in her response to Gabriel, “let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38).

How bold that we ask for forgiveness as we are forgiven. If we plan to be forgiven, we must do the same.

How bold that we ask to be delivered from evil. I recently was prepared to do something my gut told me was wrong. Some circumstances not of my own doing kept me from it. It was an answer to prayer. God was doing for me what I could not do for myself.

When spiritual friends ask how to find God, I have suggested they pray the Lord’s Prayer boldly as part of a rule of life at designated times during the day that works best for them until we meet again. I will do the same, and we can compare notes.

Joanna  https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Mary and Joseph as Refugees

Mary and Joseph, Refugees

“As I ponder what these last few days before the Nativity might have meant for Mary and Joseph, I can’t help but see the connection between their journey to Bethlehem and flight to Egypt with the travels of so many refugee families searching for a new, safe home…I know that Mary didn’t have a baby registry set up with Amazon, and likely no baby showers were providing all her newborn’s needs, but I can imagine that she was longing for a safe, warm, and clean bed and the local midwife’s attention when her time came.  As a carpenter, Joseph likely had little experience with women’s labor and delivery work.  And then, just when the new family might have felt a bit secure, God reveals the danger they are in should they remain in Bethlehem, so off they flee to a new, safe home where they will be strangers, refugees in this new land.  In so many human ways, they were on their own in this endeavor, much like the refugees who are longing to come to a country of safety but where everything will be new to them—new languages, new customs, a whole new life.” — Judith Schellhammer, chair Resolution Review Committee, Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, December 22, 2016, Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. www.edomi.org. 

My heart goes out to the many refugees in our world who are simply seeking basic safety for their own lives and their families. I have mainly become acquainted with several DREAMERS, undocumented immigrants who came with their parents years ago and now seek education and status. Their situation is very tenuous. This country is the one they know and where they have grown up. They have no connection to their country of origin. We would deport some of the hardest working groups of people I have experienced, who already enrich and broaden our culture.

 I try to connect to them in some small way by remembering that our ancestors were refugees in this country unless we are Native American.

My heart also goes out to the many Afghan refugees coming to our country, who are starting over without knowledge of the culture or language. Turning on the stove or washing machine is as foreign as our language. Yet, we also have much to learn from them. Endurance. Bravery. Trusting.

 I also see ourselves in our search for God as refugees, often deciding to leave a place or point of view of our origin, seeking more, a larger view of God, a new life, and continually learning a new language. We step out on roads less traveled. It also cannot be a straightforward journey, but it is a sacred adventure where guides can be helpful.

Advent is always a good starting point for this journey.

Joanna  https://www.joannaseibert.com/

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Photography as a Spiritual Practice

Photography as a Spiritual Practice

Guest Writer: Eve Turek

Surprise!

"And now the Lord says—

he who formed me in the womb to be his servant

to bring Jacob back to him

and gather Israel to himself,

for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord

and my God has been my strength—

he says:

'It is too small a thing for you to be my servant

to restore the tribes of Jacob

and bring back those of Israel I have kept.

I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,

that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.'" Isaiah. 49:5-6.

Let Peace Prevail

My husband, Pete, likes to give practical gifts. He asks, "What do they need?" when considering a present. As a personality that wants to succeed, I stress over choosing perfect gifts without a list to go by. My key question is, "What do they want?" My mom preferred to shop for surprises, gifts you never knew existed, so they made no wish list but were absolutely perfect. She always asked herself, "What would they love?"

Each gift-giving style has its advantages. Pete gains the satisfaction of knowing the gift will be used. While my gifts may not be exciting to open, I know they will be appreciated. But Mom's gifts! Mom's gifts were always the best. In her later years, she wrote little riddles or clues on the tags to keep us guessing. But, of course, Dad and I never did. How could we guess something we had never heard of?!?

 As I have been thinking about gifts and how we choose them, I ponder what that might say about God's gifts to us. I remember today's image from a Dove Release I photographed some years ago. I had to stand in a place where the doves flew in my direction, but that put me aiming right at the sun (not ideal). But a partial inverting of the image revealed a giant Eye within the Sun's rays that only the camera could see and record. As is so often true with God's gifts, the image itself was a Great Surprise.  I've called the image both Let Peace Prevail and Vision for Peace.

 As we light candles each week through Advent, I think about the gifts each week's candle represents and the culmination of all these days of preparation and patience in our Christmas celebration of God's coming to earth in human form.

So far, we have lighted candles of Hope, Peace, and Joy. This Sunday, the candle of Love will join the other three. Finally, we will light the fifth white candle representing Christ Himself at Christmas.

All the gifts the candles represent, including illumination in dark spaces—whether literal, physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, national, or global—show what a wonderful gift-giver our God is. His gifts of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love in Christ answer all of our own questions: What do we need? What do we want? What would we love?

The only questions left are those each of us must answer for ourselves. How will I unwrap God's gift this year? How can I share this gift this year with others?—Eve Turek

Joanna joannaseibert.com