A New Spiritual Practice

A New Spiritual Practice

"Here's a suggestion for you today. At some point, stop. Gaze at something God has created. Take in its shape and form, its color, its movement, its intricacies. It could be a single bud on an autumnal flower, an animal or bird, a shapely fruit, or flowing water.

Gaze at something long enough until you can see through it to its source: God - so majestic, infinitely creative, and miraculously generous to share these traces of God's glory with us."—Br. Curtis Almquist. Society of Saint John the Evangelist.

Mary Anne Seibert

Brother Almquist gives us a new spiritual practice. He asks us to gaze at something in creation: a tree, a flower, a bird, a river, the rain, the snow, until we see the Creator in it. We might name it Observo divina. This will be a new practice for today. It all started yesterday when we saw two fawns of similar ages with a single doe in our backyard. We were mesmerized by the fawns' awkward gait, curiosity, and seemingly delight in a new world at every turn.

Today, as I write, a lone male deer with huge antlers passes by my window. He takes my breath away. Multiple deer once passed my window, but now a visit is infrequent. The buck is probably headed across the street to meet many other deer living in the woods behind our son and his wife's house.

There, I know he will be just as welcome as he was here. In fact, all of the images were taken by our daughter-in-law, Mary Anne Seibert. As he majestically walks by, I think of a scene from the movie The Queen, when Elizabeth II encounters such a beautiful deer. They simply look at each other and admire one another. They seem to see the beauty of creation in the other.

This is also what we do for each person we meet today. We look into their hearts to see Christ, God, and Spirit within them. Our task is to see the Creator in all creation, to praise and give thanks for this creation.  

We start with lovable things until we can finally see creation in those with whom we have difficulty. Take heart. Sometimes, it may take more than a lifetime to achieve. But God never gives up on us... or on them!

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

Healing through Forgiveness

Nouwen: Healing Our Hearts Through Forgiveness 

“How can we forgive those who do not want to be forgiven? But if our condition for giving forgiveness is that it will be received, we seldom will forgive! Forgiving the other is an act that removes anger, bitterness, and the desire for revenge from our hearts. Forgiving others is first and foremost healing our own hearts.”—Henri Nouwen in Bread for the Journey (HarperSanFrancisco, 1997).

Several years ago, I was part of an amazing group of women in Searcy, Arkansas, as we discussed the topic of forgiveness. One of the first questions from two women was, “How can I forgive someone who has harmed me or someone I love when they do not see they have done any wrong?”

These are the most complex hurts for me to forgive as well. We think we are doing fine, but then we hear how the people involved see no wrongdoing on their part, and an angry dragon rears its head again. This anger is nothing like our initial reaction, but it still endangers our body, mind, and soul. We are allowing the people and the situation to continue harming us—unless we can transform that energy into something useful for our bodies and the world.

I think of a small church-related school that many of my friends were part of, which closed overnight. After several years, most of us have worked through the disappointment and have moved on. We will all carry a scar, but for the most part, the wound is healing.

Most of us decided that if we cannot forgive those involved in the closing or those who did nothing to prevent it, they are still hurting us. They occupy space in our minds, lives, bodies, and relationships with others. We all have prayed to transform this hurt’s enormous energy into something positive. We are all now discovering gold deep down below this pain.

I often visit a place where I recall the children, teachers, and school board singing and carrying small, lit candles through tears as they walked out into the world in pairs at the conclusion of the school’s last graduation. What I cherish every day is the light that each of those involved at this school now brings to many other schools, homes, churches, and places of work.

We have been sent out to share what we learned from that experience: the relationships, the love, the kindness to others, the acceptance of differences, and the belief in a loving God. For example, Jennifer, in the upper picture, who was on the school board, is now changing more lives as the president and CEO of Achieve Community Alliance, advancing independence, productivity, and community involvement for Arkansans in need. In the lower picture is Beth Maze, the school chaplain, who now leads formation at St. Paul’s in Fayetteville, the largest church in our diocese.

There was an abundance of light radiating from that school. That is why it was so hard to leave. But now, we are commissioned to carry the light we received there out into the larger world. We can make a difference in so many other lives, and so many continue to do simply that.

Joanna  https://www.joannaseibert.com/

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/