Children at Dismissal

Church Dismissal

“ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble, like this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”—Matthew 18: 2-5.

One of my favorite parts of the 10:30 service at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church is at the end at the back of the church, when several young children come and help me with the dismissal. They are usually sweet girls, but there is an occasional brave boy. On rare occasions, they even walk down the aisle hand in hand with me to arrive at the back of the church.

There are so many words I would like to say to them. I want them to learn to love being part of a church community, worshiping together. I want them to know they are the future of the world and Christ’s church. I want them to see that this place is open to them for the rest of their lives.

I want them to know this is a safe place. I want them to know this is where they will find a community worshiping a loving God. I want them to know what they can learn from this worshiping community at Saint Mark’s.

This can be the gift they inherit to pass on to their children and grandchildren, as my mother and grandparents did for me. I want them to learn what Jesus said when the disciples asked him who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus pulled a child out of the crowd and said the greatest in the kingdom of heaven are people like these. 

Frederick Buechner writes about our children: “Children live with their hands open more than with their fists clenched. They are people who,…, are so relatively unburdened by preconceptions that if somebody says there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, they are perfectly willing to go take a look for themselves. Children aren’t necessarily better than other people. Like the child in “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” they are just apt to be better at telling the difference between a phony and the real thing.1”  

 Therefore, I must be careful about what I say and always try to speak the truth. Of course, there is no way to tell these amazing children all this. But I can invite them to be a part of the last part of the church service and simply love them for those brief moments at the back of the church before they go home, and remind them this is a place of love.

1Frederick Buechner in Beyond Words.

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

Faith, Trust, Love, Healing

Faith =Trust=Love=Healing

“Faith is often understood as accepting something you can’t understand. The Greek word for faith is pistis, meaning “trust.” Whenever Jesus says to people he has healed: “Your faith has saved you,” he is saying that they have found a new life because they have surrendered in complete trust to the love of God.”—Henri Nouwen in You Are the Beloved (Convergent Books 2017).

trust

Henri Nouwen speaks to us this morning about faith in God. He reminds us that often, we see faith as believing or accepting something we cannot explain or understand.  

Jesus, however, says faith is trust, trust in the unconditional love of God for us that never ends. Knowing this keeps us from looking for and demanding love from other people, other things than God. Addictions are love for something other than God. Family misunderstandings are brought about because, in essence, we do not feel loved or cared for by other family members.  

We do not feel appreciated by other friends after all we have done for them. We have given our lives to our work, family, and church, and we perceive they now no longer appreciate us. We have offered conditional love. We have forgotten what unconditional love is like because we have stopped offering unconditional love or believing in it.

Whenever Jesus tells those he has healed, “Your faith has saved you,” he is saying you have surrendered in complete trust to the love of God. The surrender, the trust in an unconditional love continually offered by our God, has healed our hearts and souls even if the physical healing never occurs.

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

The Sacred Labyrinth

The Sacred Labyrinth

Guest Writer Patty Kohler

labyrinth St. Francis, Heber Springs

Praying

“It doesn’t have to be

the blue iris, it could be

weeds in a vacant lot, or a few

small stones; just

pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try

to make them elaborate, this isn’t

a contest, but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which

another voice may speak.”—Mary Oliver

St. Scholastica

Mary Oliver’s simple poetry resonates with my soul because of its simplicity. This verse recalls the circuits of a labyrinth, so often made of a few small stones, evoking silence. It beckons the walker through a liminal doorway into another world composed of gratitude and thanksgiving, surrounded by the sweet music of silence. In this in-between state, my monkey mind chatter falls away; each thought drops from my conscious mind, landing softly onto the earth’s receptive arms.

The labyrinth pathway is designed to provide a place to pause at its opening and begin a slow release of all that competes with our entire presence. Stepping in, we let go of what has transpired earlier in the day, what is rolling through our heads, or even what might be coming up in the next few hours. For now, we will begin the slow walk, leading only to the center.

The path may veer closer to the middle or loop to the outskirts of the labyrinth. Still, it gently leads us to the middle, allowing us to discard, at least temporarily, all those ideas, worries, and concerns that plague our minds. Left with a quiet mind and shuffling our feet, we walk the circuitous route around and around, turning at unexpected places into the waiting center.

Thus emptied, when we reach the center, we stand, sit, or even gaze around us at the path that has led us here. In this spot, we open ourselves to receive whatever Spirit has to give us. We soak it in, gratefully gather Love, Peace, and Life to us, and receive with gratitude. Here, we remain as long as we are led to soak it in, filling us up silently.

As we prepare to leave the labyrinth’s center, our steps are retraced, and we gradually rewind our way to the labyrinth’s entrance. We reflect, sometimes with awe and wonder, on what has been received. We silently return, knowing that somehow, this brief pilgrimage has changed us in some subtle way.

Again, we may walk nearer the center or the edge as we contemplate and return. The labyrinth, an ancient symbol of unity and wholeness, has fed us, and we are ready to step out and move back into our lives and the world.

Excerpt from In Circles

“Everywhere and ancient the circle

is repeated, shaping us to its original wisdom.

Give us each day or daily hunger,

to be more than we are now,

to be less solitary selves doubting our place,

to be more a circle of connection and acceptance,

spherical harmony of the heavens.

Each one a single voice, a sacred story,

but always in the larger circle of meaning and mystery.”—Gary Boelhower

World Labyrinth Day this year was May 3, 2025. It is always the first Saturday in May. It is still not too late to honor others around the world who will be walking the labyrinth with you. To find a labyrinth near you, go to https://labyrinthlocator.com/

Patty Kohler, Ed.D.

Advanced Labyrinth Facilitator

van Buren

“Now, if I hear the sound of the genuine in me, and if you hear the sound of the genuine in you, it is possible for me to go down in me and come up in you. So that when I look at myself through your eyes, having made that pilgrimage, I see in me what you see in me, and the wall that separates and divides will disappear, and we will become one because the sound of the genuine makes the same music.”   Howard Thurman

Joanna Seibert joannaseibert.com