Recongizing God in Each Other

Recognizing God in each other

Game Well Done

“He who recognizes a king in disguise treats him differently from he who sees before him only the figure of an ordinary man and treats him accordingly. Likewise, souls who can recognize God in the most trivial, the most grievous, and the most mortifying things that happen to them honor everything equally with delight and welcome with open arms what others dread and avoid.”—Jean-Pierre de Caussade in The Sacrament of the Present Moment (HarperOne, 1966).

I know people like this who seem to treat everyone equally. No one is more important than another. All are human and divine at once. They seem to see the Holy Spirit, God, and Christ in each person they meet. They do not look merely at a person’s outer appearance, political stature, wealth, or power. Christ indeed modeled this approach for us. 

My experience teaches me that we cannot see Christ in our neighbor because we cannot see Christ in ourselves. Consequently, we project onto others our unchristlike behavior, which we do not realize is within us. 

How do we change? Along the way, someone enters our life and treats us as if we contain a divine spark, the holy within us—that is, they respond to us with love. It is as though a spark has been lit. A lightbulb goes on inside us. We begin to believe we are loved. 

So, our mission as spiritual friends is to seek the light, the Christ, in each other.

I remember talking to a spiritual friend about a family member I struggled with. She helped me by asking me, “Tell me something good about her. Something she does well.”

My experience has also shown me that I cannot see Christ in someone else when I live in fear. I realized this recently while attending a meeting where I felt uncomfortable. I wanted to look good, but I did not know exactly what they expected of me. I was afraid I might make a mistake. As an introvert, I only interacted with people I knew. I was only concerned with what people might think of me. Was I making a good impression? 

At our next meeting, I hope to connect more effectively with others. My plan is to pray for each person who will be there, just before the meeting, asking that we see Christ within each other. I will let you know how it goes.

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

Anne Lamott: Prayer: Help, Thanks, Wow

Lamott: Prayer

Anne Lamott Trinity Cathedral 2019 Gail Fiser

“So prayer is our sometimes real selves trying to communicate with the Real, with Truth, with the Light. It is us reaching out to be heard, hoping to be found by light and warmth in the world, instead of darkness and cold. Even mushrooms respond to light—I suppose they blink their mushroomy eyes, like the rest of us.”—Anne Lamott in Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers (Hodder & Stoughton, 2001).

When spiritual friends have difficulty with prayer, we discuss our current prayer life and what prayer discipline has been helpful in the past. We also explore various ways to pray, including walking and praying, praying in silence, using prayer books, Ignatian prayers, Centering Prayer, praying with beads, praying in color, and observing the monastic hours.

Anne Lamott’s book Help, Thanks, Wow is a realistic, humorous, and down-to-earth exploration of prayer, organized around three themes: giving thanks, asking for help, and praising. The book is filled to the brim with simple “one-liners” to remember and guide us through the day.

 One of my favorites is, “If one person is praying for you, buckle up. Things can happen.” Another is, “The difference between you and God is that God never thinks he is you.” Finally, she reminds us that gratitude is not just lifting our arms and waving our hands, as we often see on television, but rather picking up trash, doing what is required, and reaching out to others in need. When we breathe in gratitude, we breathe it out.

Lamott’s section on “Wow” likens that kind of prayer to a child seeing the ocean for the first time. I still remember standing just inside the National Cathedral as a group of fifth-graders walked in. I will never forget one small boy who looked up at the high, vaulted gray stone ceilings and exclaimed: “WOW!” These are uppercase Wows.

There are also lowercase wows, such as getting into bed between clean sheets. Lamott suggests that poetry is “the official palace language of Wow.” She also reminds us of C. S. Lewis’s view of prayer, namely that we pray not to change God but to change ourselves. 

My experience is that Lamott consistently encourages us to adopt new faith practices or reminds us of those we have forgotten. This can bring welcome renewal to our everyday lives.

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

Meditating and Contemplating with Our Mouths as Well as Our Head

 Speaking Out Loud, the Lectio Divina and the Jesus Prayer

Contemplation

“The meditatio [the meditation part in Lectio Divina] is done not with one’s mind but with one’s mouth. When the psalmist tells us how he loves to meditate and finds it sweeter to his palate than honey from the honeycomb, is he talking about meditation merely as an intellectual exercise? I like to think he is also talking about the constant recitation of God’s law—so he meditates as much with his mouth as with his head.”—Anthony de Mello in Sadhana: A Way to God (Liguori, 1998).

Contemplation Jean Francois Portaels

De Mello also offers a unique way to practice the Benedictine Lectio divina. He suggests reading Scripture (lectio) until a word or phrase resonates with us, then stopping (meditatio) and repeatedly repeating the word with pauses. In this way, we pray not only with our minds but also with our bodies. When we feel saturated with the word, we stop and enter into prayer (oratio). He also suggests expanding the exercise to chanting, perhaps with others, and including long periods of silence.

De Mello adds an extra dimension to the Jesus Prayer by imagining Jesus with each word, saying his name with each breath, and ultimately hearing Jesus call us by name.

De Mello tells the story of a man’s deep guilt over barely missing his father’s death. My experience is that this often impels many people to seek spiritual direction. I am constantly amazed at how God works. God calls us back, even—and maybe especially—through those who have died. God calls us through the good and challenging times of our lives to connect with those who can guide us into spiritual practices that lead us back to God.

Contemplation Before Surgery Joe Wilder MD

De Mello calls us to live fully and intimately in the present moment, to become part of the grand mystery of God’s love for us and all creation. The present is where we meet God; it is also where spiritual practices such as Lectio divina and the Jesus prayer carry us.

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