Finding God at a Stoplight Prayer

Finding God at a Stoplight Prayer

“God is in the kitchen, sitting quietly with a cup of coffee. God is on the street corner, waiting for the light to change. God is at the bar, watching the game on TV. God is in the beauty shop, listening to the latest stories. There is no place where we are that God is not.”—Steven Charleston, Facebook Page.

I sometimes share this short piece by Bishop Steven Charleston from his daily Facebook Page with spiritual friends who cannot seem to find answers to the question, “So, where do you see God working in your life?” I suggest an exercise at the end of the day to write down the places they have been, the people they have met and would like to remember, and any feelings or thoughts about God’s presence during their day. It is important to write it down, if possible. Writing takes things out of our bodies and minds and into our tangible world. Some think it is silly and never do it. Others find it helpful to begin to see and feel a connection they think they have lost, one that is always there, right beside them, all day and night.

The church where I serve sits at a corner with a stoplight. For some time, our associate rector, Michael, has displayed a short “stoplight prayer” on our church’s electronic sign at the stoplight. We hear weekly from people whose day changes when they stop for just a second to connect with our God, who is always there. Briefly pausing what we are doing and noticing the creation around us is our first step out of ourselves and into the life of knowing and feeling God’s perpetual presence.

Joanna.  joannaseibert.com

Eating Together as a Spiritual Practice

Eating Together as a Spiritual Practice

“The question of bread for myself is a material one, but the question of bread for my neighbor is a spiritual one.”—Nikolai Berdyaev.

Indeed, Jesus gives us continued examples of feeding thousands and of eating in the homes of others, often with the most despised, such as Zacchaeus and Matthew, tax collectors. Jesus, a role model in this, feeds others and lets others feed him. For Christians, Jesus leaves us with another meal, the Eucharist of bread and wine, a sacrament that reminds us of his care and brings his presence to us.

When I am having difficulty with someone, I imagine us together at the altar rail, kneeling, if possible, to receive the bread and wine of the Eucharist. Jesus is with us. After kneeling together, I see the person in a different light. Sometimes I see the Christ within them. 

I have given up trying to understand why sharing a meal with someone else can help us build a relationship faster than spending hours talking to that person. That is why I so strongly believe in the ritual of family meals together. As we are being fed, we see the person more clearly. Often, we can have a deeper conversation when food is present. It is almost as if the food is a natural icebreaker.

I remember working with nine other physicians in my medical practice. Each had unique gifts and advocated for different parts of our practice. Each person wanted their area to be funded and fully staffed. 

Partners at Work

One day, we decided to have lunch together once a week to work through complex issues. The situation changed almost overnight. We began to see each other’s needs in relation to our many areas of interest. We prioritized the needs of the patients we cared for over our own. Some of us even became lifelong friends!

Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/

What We Can Learn From the Enneagram

Enneagram

“In the study of personality, the Enneagram is designed for self-inquiry. By discovering one’s Enneagram type, one comes to know the many layers of self in a personal and particular way. The Enneagram shows how a person’s strengths can become more stable and dynamic, and how weaknesses can be brought to consciousness and even healed.”—Joseph Howell in Becoming Conscious: The Enneagram’s Forgotten Passageway (Balboa Press, 2012).

We once spent a weekend at an Enneagram conference led by Dr. Howell at Kanuga. This ancient nine-point study of personality can help us learn about ourselves, our strengths, and the healing of wounds that led to the formation of certain personality traits. Understanding the Enneagram can also help us become more compassionate toward ourselves and others of different personality types.

On the Enneagram, I am a two, the helper, with a strong three wing, the achiever. Another wing, the four, the creative type, can lead me to the source of my fundamental essence or to God within. That may explain why I write this daily message about spiritual direction and practices.

At the conference, there were nine tables where people could talk with others who shared one of the nine personality types. I immediately identified with the twos’ table. I heard the music in my mind and body, “Going Home,” the theme from Dvorak’s Largo in his New World Symphony. I was with a group of people who knew me, and I knew them. I could see their woundedness and easily recognize their souls, the God in them.

When someone with some experience of the Enneagram comes to spiritual direction, I try to use this tool to help that person see God and the soul within—for this is what the ancient practice is about.

Enneagram Types

Rebecca Spooner led an Enneagram Retreat at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Little Rock on February 29, 2020, and it was so helpful. It was one of the last things we did before the pandemic changed our lives. It seems so long ago. Today, I will review what Rebecca taught us to remember about the outside world and how it affected our inner world.

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