Practicing What We Preach

 How to Practice What We Preach

“If mainstream Christianity has steadily lost force and credibility, I wonder how much might be attributed to the fact that we preach one gospel and live another. We preach the Good Samaritan and lock our church doors. We preach the lilies of the field and allocate large amounts of our monthly paychecks to pension and insurance plans.”—Cynthia Bourgeault in Mystical Hope (Cowley, 2001).

This is the old adage of ‘practicing what we preach.’ We talk one way, but act another. My experience is that much of what we do is unconscious. We consider ourselves to be good and caring individuals. A particular belief is part of our core values, but our society often speaks against it or fails to value it. This gives us excuses or wiggle room, so we don’t have to follow through.

My experience is that fear and the scarcity/zero-sum mentality most often keep us from being the person God created us to be. As a result, we cannot act on what we know at our core is true. We fear we will not have enough money. We worry someone will break in and steal what we already have. We fear our health will fail. We experience anxiety over the thought of being left alone, abandoned, or harmed. We fear that speaking out for what we believe will cause us to lose friends or even our jobs.

Being grateful and expressing thanksgiving for what we have is one of the best ways to move beyond a fear-based life. This offers us a daily reminder of how much God cares for us, loves us, and is always beside us.

Steve Wright

Steve Wright

When I am most fearful, I rise early in the morning and watch the sunrise, acknowledging the fear within me and making a gratitude list of how I have been cared for and loved. Out of deep darkness comes overwhelming light. God gives us fresh hope and a fresh start each day. Resurrection comes out of the darkness when we have the courage to look fear in the eye and realize the blessings and gifts we have been given.

Living out of gratitude rather than fear can help us practice what we preach.

Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/

 

 

Ancient Celtic Prayers for Today

Daily Protection Celtic Prayer

“May the guiding hands of God be on my shoulders,
may the presence of the Holy Spirit be on my head,
may the sign of Christ be on my forehead,
may the voice of the Holy Spirit be in my ears,
may the smell of the Holy Spirit be in my nose,
may the sight of the company of heaven be in my eyes,
may the speech of the company of heaven be in my mouth,
may the work of the church of God be in my hands,
may the serving of God and my neighbor be in my feet,
may God make my heart his home,
and may I belong to God, my Father, completely.”—Lorica of St. Fursa (Fursey), 7th Century, Translation composite, from Facebook Page of the Rev. Dr. Frederick Schmidt.

Fred Schmidt puts a prayer on his Facebook page almost every day. I cannot get this one out of my mind. St. Fursa was an Irish monk who was among the first to spread Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England in the seventh century. A “Lorica” is a protection prayer in the Irish Celtic tradition, often used before going to battle. It may have originated from the original Latin word "lorica," meaning breastplate or armor. It may have been inspired by Paul’s writing in Ephesians 6:11 to “put on the whole armor of Christ.”

As modern Christians, we can learn a great deal from the Celts. We have a treasury of their wisdom because they highly valued writing and education. On the other hand, I think of others who worshiped God, whose traditions we know nothing about because their experience—and not the writing—was primary to them. We need both.

This form of prayer should meet us as we wake up in the morning, maybe with that first cup of coffee or tea, or even before.

We may need to return to it during the day, leaving a copy in a convenient place so we do not forget to put on “the whole armor of God.” Sometimes, life seems like going into battle. However, my experience is that when prayers like this become part of our being, we recognize that the struggle is over and love has already won.

Image Gently

Image Gently

“Relationship is not a project, it is a grace.”—Thomas Moore in Soul Mates: Honoring the Mysteries of Love and Relationship (HarperCollins, 1994), p. 256.

My friend, Marilyn Goske, also a pediatric radiologist, spearheaded Image Gently’s campaign to decrease radiation to children in diagnostic radiology. This organization encourages physicians to use the least radiation when performing tests on children. It applies to conventional X-rays, fluoroscopy, interventional radiology, nuclear medicine, computed tomography, dentistry, cardiac imaging, and imaging in the setting of minor head trauma.

 In addition, the organization aims to educate physicians, technologists, and nurses about the amount of radiation used and the importance of reassuring parents about their concerns. This educational program involves communication with all those directly involved in these studies and all medical organizations that support them. It has achieved overwhelming success, with over 1.9 million participants pledging to this program.

Marilyn shows us how to change the world by communicating and dialoguing with all people who share a particular interest. It involves trying to solve a problem, working together, celebrating when answers come, and honoring those who bring the vision to reality. In this way, we see the power of community.

I realize how important this could be in our spiritual lives. We find more answers to our spiritual questions in community, whereas often we cannot understand our concerns on our own.

 I remember meeting with my spiritual director, who helped me understand a dream that had baffled me for days. Each day, in the early morning, I return to the dream and uncover another insight, as though she and all those who have taught me about dreamwork are still guiding me.

We also have many aspects of ourselves: the inner masculine, the inner feminine, the child within, and many more. They reveal answers when we see them as helpful voices, rather than unwanted adversaries, especially when they come from the weaker parts of ourselves. It is in our weakness, in our vulnerability, especially in community, that God the Holy Spirit creeps in and helps us discern a path, where before we saw only a jungle.

In community, we image gently.

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