Angels

 “My Grandfather, My Angel”

Rarely do I not think about my grandfather at some point during the day. He taught me about unconditional love. No, my grandfather was unconditional love. In addition, I know he also saved my life on at least three occasions.

My grandfather saved my life for the first time when we were swimming in the Mattaponi River beside his farm. He had taught me how to swim, and I knew I was a good swimmer because I would later spend hours swimming along the shoreline. This near-miss tragedy occurred when I was in primary school. I suddenly could not stay above water. I think it was high tide, and I had unconsciously gone out beyond the dock where the water was now over my head, and panicked when I could not touch the bottom. My grandfather quickly rushed to my side and swam me to shore. I remembered much later how that best described the depth of his love for me.

Want to read about the other two times Joanna’s grandfather saved her life? You’ll have to get the book and read her essay, as well as the many different essays and poems (and one short story) inside.

ALL NIGHT, ALL DAY: life, death & angels was released June 20, 2023, at a fantastic party at Novel Bookstore, Memphis, Tennessee. I was thrilled to meet and hear from the other authors.

About the Book

There is something mystical about holding a person’s hand, “crossing over.” It can be heartbreaking, of course, but also very holy and beautiful. Some pieces in this collection share the experience of personal loss following the death of a loved one. Often, the presence of an angel or another mystical experience is shared. But not only in death–there are also stories of the way the mystical world interacts with us in daily life. And not only angels but also mothers, fathers, sisters, grandfathers, and friends.
All Night, All Day is an inspirational collection of personal essays, stories, and poems by outstanding women authors who write about the appearance of the divine in their lives. Some angels come to save a life or change a flat tire. Some appear to warn people, tell them what to do, and suggest more vegetables and maybe better shoes.
Contributors: Cassandra King - Suzanne Henley - River Jordan - Sally Palmer Thomason - Natasha Trethewey - Sonja Livingston - Johnnie Bernhard - Frederica Mathewes-Green - Angela Jackson-Brown - Christa Allan - Renea Winchester - Jacqueline Allen Trimble - Mandy Haynes - Wendy Reed - Lisa Gornick - Jennifer Horne - Ann Fisher-Wirth - Averyell Kessler - Lauren Camp - Cathy Smith Bowers - Nancy Dorman-Hickson - Joanna Seibert - Susan Cushman - Claire Fullerton - Julie Cantrell.

I will always hold dear the friends and authors who attended the release of All Day, All Night at Novel Bookstore in Memphis that June, and especially Susan Cushman, who planned it all.

Joanna. joannaseibert.com

a 

How Does God Speak To Us?

Interruptions

“While visiting the University of Notre Dame, I met with an older professor, and while we strolled, he said with a certain melancholy, ‘You know, my whole life, I have been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I discovered that my interruptions were my work.’”—Henri Nouwen in Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life (Image Books, 1975), p. 52.

This has been my experience. I have an agenda, but I am slowly, often painfully, learning that God continually meets me in the interruptions in my life that are not on my schedule. For example, there is a call from a friend or family member when I think I am too busy to talk. This is a sure sign that I am in trouble, losing priorities of what life is all about, if I cannot stop and chat.

Interruptions are like a stop or yield sign to go off script and listen for a grace note. Nouwen calls them opportunities, especially opportunities for hospitality and novel experiences. I USUALLY HAVE FRESH IDEAS when I return to a project after an interruption. But that false idea keeps lurking and speaking in my ear, and if I stop, I will lose my creativity or train of thought.

Interruptions remind us of our powerlessness. If we think we are in charge, the interruptions remind us that this is a myth. I BECOME EXPONENTIALLY ISOLATED when I seal myself off and refuse to respond to anything but what is on my schedule. My world, my God, has become too small. I become the center of the universe and fossilized. As a result, I develop a high hubris titer.

Joanna  https://www.joannaseibert.com/

How Does God Change Us

 Esther Harding: Change

“We cannot change anyone else; we can change only ourselves, and then usually only when the elements that need reform have become conscious through their reflection in someone else.”—M. Esther Harding in The ‘I’ and the ‘Not-I’: A Study in the Development of Consciousness at InwardOutward.org.

seeing our own defects in others.

Esther Harding was a British American and was considered the first significant Jungian analyst to practice in this country. Her first book, The Way of All Women (1975), was one of the first books I read in my early days of seeking to connect to feminine spirituality.

President Jimmy Carter wrote about reaching a point where we can give thanks for our difficulties during his final years. That is almost impossible, but I can see his reasoning more clearly in Esther Harding’s writings.

We wear our character defects and self-centeredness like an old, tattered bathrobe that is both ugly and yet comfortable and familiar. Our habitual manner of life has become our familiar identity. We can only recognize these defects and behavior patterns in others, as they repulse us, and finally, identify them as our own. Our behavior and reaction to the world keep us from connecting to God.

I am continually amazed by how God uses everything to bring us back to God’s love and connect us to the God within us and our neighbor. We discover what blocks us from God’s love by first recognizing the barriers in others and realizing how unattractive they are.

At some point, when the time is right, I can share Harding’s insights with spiritual friends who are also suffering. I also have spiritual friends who listen to me when suffering brings awareness that opens up a crack of light into my own life.

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