Spiritual Flat Tires

Grace Flat Tire
“We are very imperfect vehicles for the embodiment of Divine Grace. We’re all driving around on at least one flat tire and with missing or malfunctioning parts. Broken as we are, the impulse is still there: Christ’s desire to incarnate grace and truth.”
-Br. Mark Brown, Society of Saint John the Evangelist, Daily email SSJE

I and another spiritual friend so relate to this message as we both have mobility issues, so we love the image that we are moving around with at least one flat tire and maybe more. Images from our physical life are mirrors into our spiritual life. These images help us know a God who is all knowing and whom we only have a tiny glimpse of from time to time. I hope to remember the flat tire when I make my mistakes. It helps me to remember I am human and not to beat myself up. I just need a little more air in my tires. I like the image of the Spirit, the air we breathe being that air that is all around us and freely given. Sometimes our tires become so worn that we actually will have to change them. That could mean so many things. The Spirit can no longer stay within our tires. Perhaps we begin a new spiritual practice. Perhaps it is a sign that our image of God has become too small. Perhaps it means old habits will no longer work to keep us connected.  The flat tire is a work in progress. It is a reminder that we are not perfection and subject to change.

Joanna   joannaseibert.com

The True Prophet

The True Prophet

“How do we tell the false prophet from the true prophet? The true prophet seldom predicts the future. The true prophet warns us of our present hardness of heart, our prideful presuming to know God's mind. And the final test of the true prophet is love.

A mark of the true prophet in any age is humility, self-emptying so there is room for God's Word.”

 Madeleine L'Engle, A Stone for a Pillow

We owe so much to Madeleine L’Engle and her books for children which are even better for adults. Perhaps what I will remember the most, however, is the fact that her award-winning 1963 Newberry selection, A Wrinkle in Time, was rejected 26 times before it was published and became an instant science fiction classic!  L’Engle is telling us how we recognize authentic prophets and also how we know we are speaking with a prophetic voice. But there is more. I never know with any certainty when I am doing God’s will at the time, but I can sometimes realize that this was God’s will afterwards. L’Engle’s thoughts can be helpful here. If my action is all about me, I must ponder if this is really God’s will. Being at a place of humility, self-emptying is where we most hear the voice of God. If my action is done in love or comes out of love, this is a good sign that it may be God’s will. But most of all she is telling is that if we think we are doing God’s will, especially if we feel pride that we are on the right track, we need to stop and reconsider. So, it’s a great mystery. If we think we have it, we don’t. If we don’t think we have it, we may. I keep remembering a helpful quote, “the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty.”

Joanna        joannaseibert.com

Dementia and Beautiful People

Beautiful People

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Death: The Final Stage of Growth, 1986, 96.

I met at least two beautiful people today. I went to say prayers and give ashes to an older member of our congregation in the hospital on Ash Wednesday. As I was waiting at the elevator with my silver pix filled with a small amount of ashes, an African American wheelchair attendant asked me about the black ash on my forehead. I reminded him about Ash Wednesday. He asked for ashes. He said he needed them today, and it was his church’s tradition as well. He said he usually takes another elevator, but for today he took this one, and now he knew why. So, we had “ashes to go” right there as we waited for the elevators to come down. Here was a gentle, sensitive man looking for God’s presence in all he does, especially in busy times. I do not know any of his life circumstances.  We gave each other a blessing and as the elevator came down, we parted as I went up to Michael’s floor.

Michael was sitting up and his step daughter was sitting by him. I will always remember his amazing smile as he saw me and reached out to greet me with his left arm tethered to intravenous tubing. Both bandaged legs were elevated from the floor in his wheelchair. He had fallen and broken his hip, but he talked about having a puncture in his heel. Kindness and love reached out through his dementia as he apologized for not standing up when I entered his room. His step daughter described him as the sweetest man she had ever known, and just in these few minutes I knew it was true.  I longed to stay for hours and just hear him talk, even though his confusion about his children and his life made no sense. I craved being in the presence of someone who only seemed to know love and kindness, even though he was not connected to reality. I hope I can share Michael with those who come for direction and remind spiritual friends that love and God do not need to be rational or make any sense. Love has a distinctive “aura” that can fill a room fuller and faster than the most beautiful or intelligent phrases, maybe even poetry. 

There are many book about dementia and Alzheimer’s. Spiritual friends often ask about finding love and God as they watch a loved one slip away in dementia. Certainly, not all are like Michael.

 I share two books that have been helpful. Susan Cushman has written a book Tangles and Plaques, a mother and daughter face Alzheimer’s about a more difficult situation, and Frank Broyles has written a very practical book about caring for his wife with Alzheimer’s, Coach Broyles’ Playbook for Alzheimer’s Caregivers: A Practical Tip Guide. I think that some of the most beautiful people that Kubler-Ross is talking about are not only the dying but those with dementia and those who care for  both of them.

Joanna     joannaseibert.com