The Lens Through Which We See the World and Each Other

 The Lens Through Which We See

“If you wear glasses, you often forget they’re even there! Only when you take the lenses off do you realize how much your capacity to see is shaped by the lens through which you see, or as Richard Rohr often says, ‘How we see is what we see.’”—Cynthia Bourgeault in The Shape of God: Deepening the Mystery of the Trinity (CAC, 2004), disc 2. 

Here, Cynthia uses an analogy to teach us about the Trinity, and we can also apply it to everyday life. If you or the spiritual friends you meet wear glasses, try this exercise:

Take off your glasses. Try to see at a distance or read a passage of text. Perhaps you will “see” that what you “see” depends on the lenses of your glasses. Our lens, or how we see the world, is often filtered by our work, family, or position.

We might experience a need for prestige, a desire for money, control, or power, a longing to be in the spotlight or to be successful, or an obsession with beauty, clothes, food, another person, alcohol, drugs, or other addictions. We must wear sunglasses when the world or the sun is too bright. Sometimes, if we are depressed or grieving, we may indeed see the world through dark glasses.

Meditation, prayer, and meeting with spiritual friends can help us find the prescription for the lenses we use to view our family, friends, enemies, and the world. We learn to take those glasses off and are led inward to see the light, the Christ within ourselves, and the Christ within our neighbor.

We begin to see ourselves, the world, and others through the lens of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Joanna  https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Listening for God in Each Other, Spiritual Direction

Gerald May: Spiritual Direction, Listening for God in Each Other

“Besides differing from psychotherapy in intent, content, and basic attitude, spiritual direction is generally marked by a distinctive atmosphere seldom found in any other interpersonal relationship. As one person put it, ‘Being in spiritual direction is like being in prayer, only there’s someone with me in it.’”—Gerald G. May in Care of Mind/Care of Spirit: A Psychiatrist Explores Spiritual Direction (HarperSanFrancisco, 1982), p. 113.

When I took down Dr. May’s book Care of Mind/Care of Spirit from my bookshelf and opened it, a September 1990 bulletin fell out. It mentioned a book group at my church reading Care of Mind/Care of Spirit. The book had no marks, so I knew I had not read it. This happened more than thirty years ago, two months before I entered recovery. 

Our book group had read May’s book Addiction and Grace the previous year. For some reason, I was not ready to hear May’s words then. But on this day, it was different. In 1990, we became missionary members of Saint Mark’s Church to start another Episcopal church in a growing part of our city. Alas, May’s book would have been helpful in starting a new congregation as I began life in recovery, and even more so nine years later, when I was studying to become a deacon.  

This is one of the best books I have read on spiritual direction. Dr. May emphasizes how spiritual direction differs from his own highly effective psychotherapy. In therapy, the director or caregiver “hopes to encourage more efficient living in the prevailing culture, seeking to bolster an individual’s capacity to achieve a sense of autonomous mastery over self and circumstances.” By contrast, spiritual direction “seeks liberation from attachments and a self-giving surrender to the will of God.”

At some point, spiritual direction may stand in opposition to many cultural standards and values supported by psychotherapy. May skillfully writes about how a spiritual director constantly seeks out rabbit holes or traps the directee may encounter while simultaneously looking for God in their life. May also reminds us that the real healer is God and that the director and directee are merely channels. 

May cautions spiritual directors about how easily we can become distorted in our roles, “playing God.” I try to keep this book as close as possible while doing the direction. Sometimes I have to avoid obsessing over what May would say about something that comes up in a meeting. After spending some time together, I hurriedly look up the appropriate chapter. But, of course, May would say that our job is not to worry about what we say in the moment, but to focus solely and “most soulfully” on connecting this person to God in that moment! 

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

Hope from the Fresh Air of the Gospel

Hope from the Fresh Air of the Gospel

“When the fresh air of the Gospel becomes our oxygen, the world’s collective sin will burn our sensitized lungs like toxic fumes. We will notice injustice everywhere we turn, and our powerlessness will crucify our hearts. Then we will know the hope of the Resurrection from the inside. God’s power to raise, to heal, and to save will flow through us because God will be our only lasting hope.”—Br. Keith Nelson, SSJE

I try to remember and say this prayer as I stand to read the Gospel each Sunday. Gospel means Good News. Each year, I learn more that this is a weekly privilege, and one of our diaconal missions is to focus on reading the Gospel to the best of our abilities.

That means practicing it out loud until it becomes part of who we are. Not overacting or underacting. Trying to surrender to the message. I have learned that we can only deliver the Word if we are connected to the Christ within. We strive to sense the Spirit within us and the presence of Christ in each member of the congregation, especially those who may be struggling.

When this happens, healing electricity flows from the Word to the people and back to the Gospel. Truly hearing the Word can move our hearts to action. The message of Christ in the Gospel leads us to share Christ's presence with one another as the Gospel message permeates the nave of the church. This healing presence gives us peace and promise for the day, healing for the past, and hope for the future.

Those who study dreams believe that every dream holds both a promise and a warning. This may also be true of many gospel passages we read and hear each Sunday. Looking for the warning and the promise, as we do in dreamwork, as we read and hear the Sunday Gospel message, might give us new hope in the Good News and in God’s message.

Joanna joannseibert.com