St. Michael and All Angels

 St. Michael and All Angels

“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”—Psalm 91:11.

A few weeks ago, on September 29, we celebrated the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels.

The next-to-last day of September is always the Feast Day of St. Michael and All Angels. Above my desk in my home office, a carved stone hanging by my window bears a painted image of St. Michael with his sword. Michael is almost the first thing I see when I look up from my computer. St. Michael lives in stained glass, overcoming evil outside my church’s chapel. I give thanks for St. Michaels in my life—and for angels who have been by my side in troublesome times, lending me the courage to go on. 

Angel Clarence in a Wonderful Life

I think of some of our favorite fictional angels. There is Angel Second Class Clarence Odbody, played by Henry Travers in Frank Capra’s timeless Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). Clarence saves George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, from bankruptcy and suicide.

Whenever I hear a bell ring, I wonder whether an angel has just earned his wings!

Then there is my all-time favorite movie angel, the suave angel named Dudley, played to perfection by Cary Grant in the Samuel Goldwyn Christmas classic The Bishop’s Wife (1947). Dudley comes to save the life and marriage of Bishop Henry Brougham, played by David Niven. Loretta Young plays his wife, Julia.

Whenever I visit my Bishop’s office, I always look around to find where Dudley is.

As I engage in spiritual direction with people, I listen for whether they speak of “angels” in their lives—people they encounter over time, or who stand by them or guide them through challenging situations or around impossible obstacles. Angels are life-changing and life-giving. They are messengers and truth-tellers who see God in us and, as the angel Gabriel did to Mary, proclaim that God is in us—when we never had a clue.

Give thanks for the angels in your life. Then repay them by being a Dudley, a Clarence, a Michael—or another angel—to someone else you meet. This is called paying it forward.

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

The Art of Pilgrimage

The Art of Pilgrimage

visit to my great grandmother’s grave in the middle of Smokey Mountain National Park

“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”—T. S. Eliot, Little Gidding.

Whenever I prepare for a trip and hope to make it a pilgrimage, I repeatedly return to Phil Cousineau’s The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker’s Guide to Making Travel Sacred.

Cousineau’s family often traveled during his childhood. He recounts that his father considered travel beneficial for the mind, while his mother felt it was good for the soul. Cousineau reminds us that a traveler visits a place, whereas a pilgrim allows a place to become part of one’s inner self. As travelers, we often plan trips and then feel a sense of unfulfilled expectation upon reaching our destination. This disappointment stems from how we engage with the place, not from any shortcomings in the site itself.

Iona

The Celts would tell us to imagine the moment of our departure as the crossing of a threshold, like a door.

Cousineau also invites us to imagine our first memorable journey. What images rise in our soul? They may include a childhood trip to the family gravesite, a visit to relatives who live on a farm, or an outing to a religious site with our favorite aunt.

Do these feelings have any connection to our lives today? The author asks us whether there are places that are sacred to our family and to us, which we long to visit. He suggests that as we uncover what we long for, we will discover who we are.

Cousineau reminds us that we will reconnect with our soul, the part of God within us, by learning to be aware and to listen to our surroundings. On a pilgrimage, we are to look—not overlook—and listen intently to everything around us. We can practice by listening to music in solitude to reestablish the habit of attending to our surroundings. Keeping a journal may help us look more closely as we seek to describe what we see.

An old Nigerian saying is “the day on which one starts out is not the time to start one’s preparation.” So we are to begin the Sacred Journey with our journal. He encourages us to set aside a silent, “alone” part of our day to write in our journal during our pilgrimage. Our journal can help us relive our pilgrimage, and we can also relive the journey by bringing back pictures, stones, or shells, as Anne Morrow Lindbergh writes about in Gift from the Sea.

We also need to plan ahead for how we will re-energize ourselves each day. It is essential to be open to serendipity, coincidences, and even distractions that may take us off our planned path. I remember spending time at the College of Preachers at the National Cathedral. I was walking near the entrance when a group of elementary students, about ten years old, hurried in. They interrupted my silent meditation. I vividly remember one young boy tilting his head back, staring up at the high-vaulted ceiling, and immediately shouting, “Wow!!” To this day, I can still see and hear that young prophet.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com

Psalm 23 and Who Are the Shepherds?

 Psalm 23 and Who Are the Shepherds?

“The Lord is my shepherd.”—Psalm 23.

Marko Andras

In an article titled “Who Is My Shepherd?” on ChristianCentury.org (July 19, 2018), Malinda Elizabeth Berry reminds us of a common misconception about the gender of shepherds. In biblical times, young girls were often shepherds, as were boys and men. For example, Berry notes that beautiful Rachel was tending her father Laban’s sheep when Jacob first saw her and fell in love with her (Genesis 29:9-10). Likewise, Zipporah and her sisters were trying to water their father’s sheep when Moses drove away other shepherds who were bothering them (Exodus 2:16-17).

We may also infer that these young, fair maidens were just as adept with a slingshot as young David!

Berry asks us whether we have seen Bible story pictures or paintings featuring girls as shepherds. I could find only a few, including one by Hungarian painter Marko Andrea (1887) titled Shepherd Girl. Berry then challenges us to consider having girls and boys dress up as shepherds in this year’s Christmas pageant! (At our staff meeting, Luke, our Family Ministries Coordinator at St. Mark’s, reminded me that, unknown to me, St. Mark’s has been including girl shepherds for years!) 

This is another example of a tradition that doesn’t align with historical facts: that shepherds should be only boys or men. It makes me wonder why I didn’t think of girls as shepherds, even after reading the stories of Rachel and Zipporah more times than I can remember. Now it is so apparent.

I hope you can share my excitement about Berry’s new insights into stories we thought we knew so well. Berry’s thoughts remind us not to gloss over old Bible stories but to look for new insights each time we read them. They also encourage us to continue researching what others are discovering in their study of the Bible. Finally, they remind us that the Holy Spirit is alive and well, continually teaching us new insights from old stories. 

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