Lessons From The Last Leaf

Lessons From The Last Leaf

“Everyone whom I allow to touch me in my weakness and help me to be faithful to my journey to God’s home will come to realize that he or she has a gift to offer that may have remained hidden for a very long time. To receive help, support, guidance, affection, and care may well be a greater call than that of giving all these things, because in receiving I reveal the gift to the givers, and a new life together can begin.”—Henri Nouwen in You are the Beloved (Convergent Books 2017).

 A single autumn leaf has been clinging to the wood frame of my office window for weeks. It is the first and last thing I look for as my day begins and ends. It reminds me of one of my favorite O. Henry short stories, “The Last Leaf.”

A young artist in New York’s Greenwich Village at the turn of the last century loses her will to live and succumbs to pneumonia. She watches from her window as the cold winter wind blows leaves from a tree branch growing along the side of an adjacent building. She decides that when the last leaf falls, she will die.

She eventually watches the last leaf miraculously remain on the tree until she regains her will to live. Later, she discovers that an older artist in her building, whose realistic paintings rarely sell, has heard her story. He spends a night in the cold and icy rain while she sleeps, painting a leaf on the wall of the building. Shortly after he paints “his masterpiece” to save her life, he also dies from the pneumonia epidemic.

Of course, the story is one of sacrifice and love for another human being, reminiscent of the Good Samaritan story. It is also a story of hope. How do we offer people the hope that they will not remain in despair? There is a promise of Easter after every Good Friday experience.

But that promise of light in the darkness can be difficult without the help of others. The darkness forgets what light is like. We see and read about this hope from others. The story of old Simeon and Anna at the temple in Jerusalem at Jesus’ presentation reminds us of the promise that the Christ Child will always come to us as we wait.  

I also see this story about the use of our gifts and talents. We may think our abilities are minor compared to others, maybe even worthless. But there will be a time when what we offer is precisely what someone else needs. We will be called to use our talent at the right time when others may not be there to help.

Advent is a time to watch, wait, and pray that we will be open to offering what we consider our “insignificant masterwork,” which will make a difference in another person's life.

Joanna. joannaseibert.com

Hearing God, Surrounded by a Crowd of Witnesses

Hearing God

Andrea McMillin

“As we live in this Advent season, awaiting the Lord’s coming, we might examine our hearts to see if they are truly open. Are we open to God speaking to us in the language of everyday events? Are we willing to hear God’s warnings and accept God’s guidance, or are we happier to justify our selfish behaviors and chart our own way in life? May the Lord find in us hearts open and ready to receive him, whenever and however he chooses to come to us.”—Br. David Vryhof, “Brother, Give us a Word,” Society of Saint John the Evangelist, December 10th, 2018, a daily email sent to friends and followers of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, a religious order for men in the Episcopal/Anglican Church. www.ssje.org.

Discernment is our daily question. Are we following our will or God’s will? Are we listening to God, or are we listening to ourselves and to what promotes our own self-interest? My experience is that it is not easy to know. I have learned to listen cautiously to those who tell us they know exactly what we are to do. I usually do not know if I am doing God’s will until much later.

 So, what do we do? First, we try to put ourselves in position to hear God’s will. This means being silent, practicing spiritual exercises, being in thin places where the spiritual and physical world seem to have only a thin membrane between them, being in community with other spiritual seekers who share experiences, studying scripture and stories of those before us in our own religious traditions, and worshiping in community. When I feel or recognize the fruit of the Spirit after discernment, it is a sign that Christ is guiding us through the Holy Spirit, the God of our understanding. (Galatians 5:22: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.)

This is not a walk we do alone. Instead, we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses before us who are now with us to guide us.

In 1994, sixty-six Arkansas Episcopal women wrote about this as they contributed meditations on the common Sunday lectionary scripture readings for years A, B, and C. It was a project of the Board of the Episcopal Church Women of the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas. This initial project was before the day of email, so everything was done by phone calls and mail. Our theme came from John 4:1-42, which tells of a Samaritan woman encountering Jesus at a well. She was the first person in John’s Gospel in which Jesus revealed that he was the Christ. The book’s title, Surrounded by a Cloud of Witnesses, came from the proper preface for All Saints Day used at the Eucharist of a funeral of a dear friend, Martha Lyford, who died much too early in 1982.

A recent ECW president, Kaki Roberts, was instrumental in making this happen at the time, as was board member Karen McClard. Andrea McMillin, who is presently the dean-elect of Trinity Cathedral, produced unique artwork and helped with publishing. I was the editor and took a six-month sabbatical from my medical practice to make this happen.

At every step, we were “surrounded by a cloud of witnesses,” from being at Martha’s funeral to the writing, editing, publishing, and multiple joint book signings and readings by the authors. We had two printings of the book and raised over $10,000, which became seed money for the ECW Foundation in Arkansas. Unfortunately, the book is out of print, so it is appropriate that now there is another edition, spearheaded by the Rev. Marti Darby, who edited Surrounded by a Cloud of Witnesses II.

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

God Coming

God Coming

 “When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately, he spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.” Mark 6:47-52.

         This has been my experience. God often comes to us in the early morning if we take time to get up, listen, read, or just look or sit outside. God comes when he sees us “straining at the oars against an adverse wind.” God comes in some miracle, almost as if he were walking on water. It may be a word, a letter, an email, or a call from someone I would least expect to hear God’s word.

“By chance,” we meet someone not on our agenda for the day. God may speak in the actual scripture reading. God may be the wind at our side, the sun bringing light to the chilly dawn, or the first bloom on a barren tree. We may perceive God as a ghost and not recognize the occurrence as a message from the one who cares so much for us. We may ignore it because it is not part of our busy plan for the day. We may even cry out. We may be terrified by what we hear or see.

Talking to spiritual friends helps us see God in these places where we were blind to God’s presence. Somehow, if we stay present in the moment and say our prayers, fear will leave us. Fear is afraid of prayer.

God literally gets into the boat where our life is sailing, and the storm in our minds and bodies ceases. We may be astonished. We do not realize why we are comforted, for our heart is still hardened. This happens daily. God does not give up on us and our hard hearts.

This is the message of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany.

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