Learning to Read Spiritual Signs

Charleston: Learning to Read Spiritual Signs

“You have seen the signs around you for some time now. You are beginning to understand which way the wind is blowing. The spiritual life is not an exercise of imagination, but of interpretation. We see the signs. It is understanding them as a coherent message that takes skill. The handwriting on the wall tells us nothing unless we have learned to read.”—Bishop Steven Charleston, Facebook Page.

“Learning to read the signs on the wall.” Bishop Charleston gives us a good metaphor for living and discerning the spiritual life. As spiritual friends, we help each other see where God works in our lives. We have friends helping us connect the dots, suggesting that a storm may be coming when we miss the signs. We are called to remember how God led us in our past. We have seen the signs in the past. When one of us cannot presently see the signs of God alive in our lives, those who can see help each other.

This is why God calls us to a community. We cannot do this alone. Our spiritual exercises, prayer, contemplation, study, Centering Prayer, the labyrinth, praying the Rosary, and intentional walking help us interpret the handwriting on the wall—the hand of God caring for us, leading us, and never abandoning us. We practice some spiritual disciplines by ourselves; others, such as corporate worship, we do together. Whether we experience these disciplines alone or jointly, we are called to share what we learn with each other. Discernment about where we should go or what action to take next is most effectively realized in a community.

I have friends who sit alone and meditate and say they perceive the direction God calls them to in their lives. By listening, they find out what they should do. All the better for them. I could never do this except on rare occasions.

My experience is that others see signs I have missed, and the course of action I should take is readily apparent to them. All of this, of course, involves much trust and life in a community.

I was continually amazed at how our children, grandchildren, and some elderly learned to stay connected during the pandemic—Zoom, Facebook Live, game apps such as Kahoot and Scrabble GO, watching movies together, Watch2gether, Netflix Party. But, of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg! Isn’t it wonderful that we learn to do all these things from our younger generation!

Joanna. joannaseibert.com.  https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Koinonia

Koinonia

“All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”—Acts 2: 44-45.

In her brilliant sermon on June 3, 2018, Patricia Matthews reminds us of the winning word in last year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee that weekend: Koinonia.

You can read Patricia’s sermon online at the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Little Rock website, or listen to it on St. Mark’s Facebook page. Fourteen-year-old Karthik Nemmani from McKinney, Texas correctly spells this word of Greek origin, meaning Christian fellowship or communion with God. It refers primarily to fellowship with other Christians in community. Patricia reminds us that this 91st National Spelling Bee, with its 515 qualified participants, was televised on none other than ESPN, a sports network where we more often watch football, basketball, baseball, or soccer!

When I heard the winning word that weekend and Sunday from Patricia, my heart skipped a beat. Koinonia had been on my heart for almost a week. Langley, our oldest granddaughter, had just graduated from high school and was headed to the University of Georgia. I had been praying about how I could support her in this decision. The answer came as I read a review of two books about Clarence Jordan in The Christian Century.

I want to remind Langley about Mr. Jordan, perhaps one of the most outstanding graduates of the University of Georgia. His competency in Greek led him to produce his “Cotton Patch” version of the New Testament, as he strove to communicate the Bible’s message in everyday language. Jordan also founded Koinonia Farm as a farming community of believers sharing their lives and resources, following the example of the first Christian communities. Out of this movement came Habitat for Humanity International by Millard Fuller, and later The Fuller Center for Housing, as well as Jubilee Partners and much support for the Civil Rights Movement.

Also, that Sunday at our church, a group of women met to begin discernment toward creating a Daughters of the King chapter at St. Mark’s. Daughters of the King also seek koinonia—specifically fellowship with other women who want a more profound spirituality and relationship to God through prayer, service, and evangelism.

I will keep koinonia on my heart for a few more years to see if I observe any more serendipitous connections of synchronicity in our world.

Now, four years later, that newly formed Grace Chapter of Daughters of the King at St. Mark’s numbers 40 women who meet monthly, praying every day for every member of this congregation and the needs of the world. During the pandemic, the Daughters began a new ministry, reaching out to women in prison who have requested books to read. The ministry is called Free Read and was the brainchild of Tandy Cobb Willis. It has now expanded to be a ministry of the whole church.

Since this writing, we have traveled to Texas, El Dorado, Shreveport, Memphis, and Springfield, Missouri, to meet with other women of the Daughters of the King.

I now love hearing about our grandchildren’s adventures and connections, since we travel less and less.

 Langley has now graduated from Georgia and will be on her way to law school at NYU to study international law. Zoe will soon be a junior at Tulane, where she has experienced koinonia New Orleans’ style! This summer, she leaves for Copenhagen to study abroad for a semester. Mac is going to Spain in a few weeks to study sports management in Madrid. Gray is going to Kentucky to study art, and Turner will be in the honors college at the University of Arkansas studying engineering.

Elizabeth is learning how to drive.

Our community continues to expand as we hear stories of connections now from all over the country and the world.

The Koinonia continues.

First DOK group in 2018

Joanna. joannaseibert.com https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Who Is Mother Bilbee

Guest Writer: Isabel Anders

Who Is Mother Bilbee? 

Mother Bilbee transforms familiar lullabies and animal tales—with a deeply child-friendly twist on classic rhymes. In this first title, Sing a Song of Six Birds, Karine Makartichan’s whimsical and eye-catching illustrations depict blackbirds who “turn the tables around” on the original nursery rhyme—as they become the bakers!

She may wear an apron and bake cookies with colorful sprinkles on top, brightening a rainy afternoon—“Just because … ”  

Or she might sit, rocking, wearing earbuds, and listening to Brahms’ Op. 49, No. 4, published in 1868 and widely known as “Brahms’ Lullaby.”

She was inspired to write her take on “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” by a line in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice: “How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.” 

Her own upbeat version, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Shining Star!” rocks this line: “When you remind me to aim high, it’s as though I touch the sky!” Gazing at the night sky always thrills and inspires her, as though she were a child, too.

Keenly aware that words also shine in a world that needs their vibrant sparks, she loves crafting a rhyme that’s hard to forget. She maintains her sense of play and promotes the pleasure of reading tales out loud, preferably with someone you love. As she points out in her retelling of “The North Wind and the Sun”:

… Here is what the Sun and Wind reveal to us in fun:

There can be different ways to learn how to get things done!

It isn’t always visible—the power we’re thinking of.

Sometimes, the most effective way to move us is through love.

In just such ways, in Mother Bilbee’s Tales, she happily provides new twists and meanings to sit alongside the classic lines that everyone knows. She spins her stories not to replace older poems and tales—but to encourage young minds to think outside the usual and search to find what matters most to them.

By teaching children to ask the right questions, she believes the answers in specific situations will naturally carry them from “here” to “there.” It isn’t always the flashy, boasting ones who make the grade, as revealed in her Folktale rhyme “The Hare and the Tortoise.”

The hare began in confidence, a smile upon his face. BUT …

The tortoise knew that, after all, it’s: “Steady wins the race.”

How we act now, in situations that test us, IS what we are—and a preview of what we can yet become. Mother Bilbee, without being preachy or tiresome, passes out colorful treats that carry inside them a second, more profound gift: Reminders that our thoughts and actions today, if we take care, can become steps to something bigger, better, and more satisfying than we could ever dream!

As we learn from her retelling of “The Milkmaid and the Bucket”:

It’s fine having plans and great actions pursuing.

But don’t let them distract you from what you are doing!

Tomorrow, this maid would take care and not fall—

Or she’ll pick herself up and then laugh at it all.

We can make mistakes and do better next time.

And that is the point of this sweet milkmaid rhyme!

Mother Bilbee would gladly carry the bucket on her head, just like the milkmaid, if sharing milk and cookies with her eager child-listeners was about to begin right now.

Release date: June 1.

Advance praise for Mother Bilbee Tales:

“Heart-warming! Any child would love this!”—Dr. Elizabeth-Anne Stewart, Life Coach, and Image Guidance Counselor.

“Intelligent and insightful.”—Oralee Stiles Hamilton, Spiritual Director, Oregon Interfaith Spiritual Center.

Isabel Anders

Joanna Seibert. joannaseibert.com