Kanuga Chapel, Leaving Fingerprints, Letting Our Right Brain Be in Charge

Kanuga Chapel, Leaving Fingerprints, Letting Our Right Brain Be in Charge

“The God who existed before any religion counts on you to make the oneness of the human family known and celebrated.”—Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The Chapel of Transfiguration at Kanuga Conference Center in North Carolina has always been a place where the family of God is celebrated in diverse ways. I love the chapel's exterior and interior, crafted from southern Carolina white pine from trees downed in a severe storm in 1936. 

My mind always wanders as I sit in the chapel, waiting for any service to begin, and I remember more. The wood for the chapel was not pretreated, leaving unusual dark oval markings from the oil in the workers’ fingerprints. The simple prints are more prominent on the ceiling, where it was more difficult for builders to work.

When I am in the chapel, I feel surrounded by the thousands of prayers from people on retreat who have worshiped here and by the hands of those who labored on the building. I remember our own fingerprints and where we leave them, as well as those of others.

I especially remember the day I was sitting in the chapel when I learned that my fingerprints for TSA PreCheck had not been captured clearly enough. That meant there would be a delay in receiving my PreCheck, delaying my traveler number! You carry this identification to go through a special security lane at airports. I realized that it is now physically hard for me to leave fingerprints for the remainder of my life’s journey.

I have a new appreciation for the builders of this chapel, who must have been incredibly strong and would have been tightly gripping the wood to leave their prints in this sacred space.

I remember other services in this chapel that I never wanted to end. I have memories of a preaching conference, dancing around the altar with Barbara Brown Taylor as I offered the bread and she followed with the wine. I see Bishop Tutu dancing on the green after an amazing closing Eucharist at a retreat led by Trinity Wall Street. Priceless. I remember two Lenten retreats when we were snowed in. Breathtaking.

I played my harp at one retreat that Phyllis Tickle led in this chapel because the scheduled musicians could not make it. I also played at the closing of our spiritual direction class at the Hayden Institute—a privilege.

Thin places like Kanuga can offer us an entire album of memories, times when God’s presence and love were palpable—or, as Gordon Cosby would tell us, times when we lived in the real world—or, as Lara Patriquin would tell us, times when our right brains were leading us.

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

Waiting on Tables

Making Life A Place Where We Know Each Other’s Name

Guest Writer: Larry Burton

“They won’t let me wait tables anymore, but I can do this.” 

We were with MK’s sister and her husband at a Wisconsin Supper Club called “The Butterfly,” named for the butterflies common in the area. Like all “real” supper clubs in Wisconsin, the menu was heavy on beef and almost void of vegetarian offerings. The décor was just this side of elegant; the tables were draped in white, and a small light flickered in the middle. The bar was large—of course, this is Wisconsin—and a large deck overlooked beautiful grounds.

We arrived at 4:30 on a Friday night—the only night the restaurant did not accept reservations. We were first in line, but many others took the invitation to visit the bar seriously. The room filled quickly, but the noise level stayed low. This was a positive for this hearing-impaired elder.

The woman clearing plates was clearly older than the young people who took orders and delivered food. She was attractive and engaging. “I’m 90 and have been working here for more than 50 years. I just love it and don’t ever want to leave.” She certainly had our attention as she shared the good news about the glorious ice cream desserts awaiting the lucky diner.

For better or worse, the days of 50-year tenure with one employer are long gone. Yet one cannot help but smile at the thought of all the friendships and experiences that made up that woman’s time there. There was also a sense that this supper club was a community not just for employees but for locals as well…especially on a Friday night. Say what you will about Wisconsin’s liquor consumption, its supper clubs still seem to serve a purpose.

Remember the opening jingle of the TV series “Cheers?” It included “where everybody knows your name.” Clearly, that is not the case for most of us, who have a place where we are recognized and accepted. In this time of division, it would be nice. That 90-year-old woman clearing our table made us feel that way, if only briefly. We hope to go back, and my agenda is to tell her how much she made my day.

Blessings.

Larry Burton
Madison, Wisconsin

Joanna joannaseibert.com

Dreams as a Spiritual Practice Again

Dreams as a Spiritual Practice Again

Guest Writer Bridget Hyde

“What I have continued to find… is that dreams are sources of wisdom for problem-solving and for enhancing life. They put us in touch with dimensions of ourselves that are normally hidden and that we need to grow toward our full potential.” — George R. Slater in Bringing Dreams to Life (Paulist Press, 1995).

The first dream I brought to spiritual direction was walking barefoot in the snow. When my foot touched the ground in the dream, I became aware I was dreaming, and I began to pray. Reflecting on that dream, I see a person becoming conscious of the dream’s divine nature. When my bare foot touched the ground, I became grounded in the grace of the unconscious. 

I had been recording my dreams, sharing them with friends, and honoring them through symbolic work, but I had not sought discernment from a spiritual director in this work. When I told a friend about this dream, she begged me to work on it with a retired Episcopal priest and spiritual director named Allen Whitman. 

I accepted her stern invitation and began a five-year study of my dreams with Allen. Through this inward study, I became aware of many aspects of my character. My work with dreams began to show me how to connect a dream’s symbolic language to my life’s circumstances. For example, when making a big decision, I dreamed that my airline flight was interrupted. The dream plane was grounded, and I was forced to wait before boarding another plane. 

When Allen and I worked on the dream, we realized that I had reached a waiting period in the decision-making process. Because of this dream, I waited to take decisive action. I am so glad I did. It was a wonder to see my work in dreams as a form of spiritual direction. Finally, I began to trust my dreams and their divine nature. Looking back, I see how God has guided me through my dreams, and I honor spiritual direction in dreams as a holy gift.

Bridget Hyde

 Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/