Wearing God

Wearing God

“Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.”— Romans 13:14 NIV.

with Peggy and Merry Helen

There are over one hundred biblical passages about clothing, and many, like this one, refer to putting God on as if we were wearing God. I recommend Lauren Winner’s book, Wearing God. She reminds us that God made clothing for them even as Adam and Eve left paradise. (Genesis 3:8-15). God clothes us, asks us to clothe others, and when we do, tells us we are clothing God. (Matthew 25).

  What we wear communicates a great deal about who and what we are. We feel and often act differently depending on the clothes we wear. My experience is when I put on my clothes, I frequently remember an occasion when I last wore them, and I feel differently than before I put them on.

I have many clothes I should give away, but I cannot because I look at them and remember a lasting experience I had wearing them. They are like a scrapbook of times when I was with others or alone and knew I was loved and cared for by the God of love.

Many people in Mourner’s Path, our grief recovery group, talk of wearing a piece of clothing of their loved one who has died, often a shirt. The smell, the feel, brings them closer to that person.

 I particularly remember wearing a black shawl one New Year’s Eve when I walked a labyrinth at Christ Church. Suddenly, I felt the love of my deceased grandmothers wrapping around me, keeping me safe, loved, and warm like the shawl around my shoulders.

I also remember the first Sunday after my ordination. I stayed late at St. Margaret’s talking with friends and was late meeting my extended family, still celebrating at a Chinese restaurant for brunch. I was pushing my way through the crowded restaurant to meet my family and suddenly remembered, “I am now wearing a clerical collar. Perhaps I should not push my way through restaurants anymore!” I slowed down.

The treasured photograph is being with a priest and another deacon as we were vesting for a special service for women at Saint Mark’s. It was a privilege to be with two women who constantly wear God and share that God of love with others. I hope to remember them and what they have shared with me each time I vest before a service, putting on another layer as we try to wear God.

Two more clothing verses.

“Put on the whole armor of God, so that you can stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 6:11 NIV) I often keep this Ephesian passage with me when encountering a difficult situation.

Another passage from Colossians explains even more the meaning of wearing the armor of God and what we can take to those demanding situations. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” (Colossians 3:12). This is a quite different coat of armor Paul tells us to wear.

Here is a suggestion. For the next week, as we dress, buttoning our shirts, zipping up our dresses, pulling up our socks, hose, and pants, putting on our shoes, consciously imagine we are putting on God, wearing Christ, especially compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, as Paul suggests. Could that possibly make any difference in how we feel about ourselves/or how we treat others just for that day?

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

Zero-Sum and Non-Zero or Positive Sum Living

Nouwen: Zero-Sum

“Fearful people say: ‘There’s not enough food for everyone, so I better save enough for myself in case of emergency,’ or ‘There’s not enough knowledge for everyone to enjoy, so I’d better keep my knowledge to myself, so no one else will use it’ or ‘There’s not enough love to give to everybody, so I’d better keep my friends for myself to prevent others from taking them away from me.’

This is a scarcity mentality. It involves hoarding whatever we have, fearful that we won’t have enough to survive. The tragedy is what you cling to ends up rotting in your hands.”—Henri Nouwen, “Temptation to Hoard,” Henri Nouwen Society Daily meditation, May 6, 2017. From Bread for the Journey, Henri J. M. Nouwen (HarperSanFrancisco 1997).

Nouwen first describes our life as a zero-sum mentality. We can only do well, win, or succeed if someone else loses, so we will not share because there is so much food, love, and land to go around.  

zero-sum: one wins at the expense of someone else losing

There is one pie. If someone takes a slice, there is less for the rest. So, one person’s gain is another’s loss. This theory describes situations where total wins and losses add up to zero. Thus, one party benefits at the direct expense of another.

There is only so much and not enough for all. Some must lose for others to gain. It is a competitive scarcity worldview that leads to nationalism and a fear-based society.

 The opposite of the scarcity mentality is a positive-sum situation or abundance mentality, which occurs when the total gains and losses are greater than zero. A positive-sum plan occurs when we see resources as abundant. We plan an approach where the desires and needs of all concerned are satisfied.

One example would be when two parties gain financially by participating in a contest, regardless of who wins or loses. Positive-sum outcomes occur in distributive bargaining, where different interests are negotiated to meet everyone’s needs. With an abundance mentality, there is enough for all.

How we view our neighbors, ourselves, and the world is totally different in these two views. A zero-sum lifestyle is isolated and lonely, with our own self-interest guiding us. A positive-sum life sees abundance and gives away and shares food, love, and knowledge to those in need. Consequently, Nouwen reminds us, “There are many leftovers.”

Jesus’ feeding of the 5000, found in all four gospels, is a story of a positive-sum experience.

 My experience is that I live in fear with a zero-sum lifestyle when I compete with others for the love, attention, or support of some entity or person. However, there is peace in my life when I live, knowing there is enough love, support, or attention for all.

Joanna      https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Night Time Prayers

 Nighttime prayers, Compline

“Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or

weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who

sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless

the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the

joyous; and all for your love’s sake.” Amen.—St. Augustine of Hippo. Book of Common Prayer, p. 134. 

cousins

  This gift from St. Augustine is one of the nighttime prayers from Compline, an evening service read just before bedtime. Families or groups can say the short prayer service as a gathering before retiring. I particularly remember when our friends Barbara and Hap Hoffman came to our house and said compline with our family every night for six weeks while recovering from surgery.

In my medical practice, this prayer was meaningful, as I could visualize the people I knew working at night at our Children’s Hospital and the patients we were all helping care for. This prayer also strengthened me when I was on call at the hospital at night, knowing that people all over the globe were saying these prayers.

As Compline became a more regular part of our rule of life, we visualize people in other professions working at night in grocery stores, restaurants, airlines, and police stations. We remember those dying and those mourning the death of a loved one. Then, we begin praying for the joyous.

All of these prayers ever so briefly can help us get out of ourselves and all our problems as we begin praying and thinking about others. This service calms our souls and is better than any sleeping pill, drug, or drink.

Below is another nighttime prayer from the New Zealand Prayer Book. I especially relate to the part, “What has been done has been done; what has not been done, let it be.”

I remember the C.S. Lewis quote you often hear from me, “We do not pray to change God. Instead, we pray to change ourselves.”

Nighttime prayers can change us.

New Zealand Prayer Book

         “Lord,

         it is night.

         The night is for stillness. 

                  Let us be still in the presence of God.

         It is night after a long day.

                  What has been done has been done;

                  what has not been done;

                   let it be.

         The night is dark.

                  Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in you.

         The night is quiet.

                  Let the quietness of your peace enfold us,

                           all dear to us,

                           and all who have no peace.

         The night heralds the dawn. 

                  Let us look expectantly to a new day,

                           new joys,

                           new possibilities.

In your name, we pray.”    Amen. p. 184.

Joanna          https://www.joannaseibert.com/