The Present

The Present

“What comes next? The answer is: we never know. No matter how smart we are, how carefully we have planned, or how much data we have gathered, we are still only mortals who can never control the future. We live in the now, in the eternally changing series of spaces we call the present. The now is where we shine. In the now we can have an impact, be creative, shape reality, build relationships that can withstand change. What happens tomorrow may always be a surprise, but what happens today can still feel our presence. In fact, we are the artists of the now. We can turn a moment into a memory, a glance into a promise, an idea into a vision that will last forever.”

Steven Charleston Daily Facebook

Turner in the present

I think I become aware of the gift of living in the present moment in the 1980’s when I bought Spencer Johnson’s 80-page book, The Precious Presence as a Christmas present for my husband and decided to read it first. It is a practical parable of a man living in our fast-paced world trying to find meaning and peace, opening the most precious of presents.  Later I would read two more of Spencer’s books, The One Minute Manager and Who Moved the Cheese during my self-help period trying myself to cope with the demands of a busy pediatric radiology practice. Then I was reminded again by the power of living in the present when I read from CS Lewis in the Screwtape Letters that God meets us only in the present moment. “The Present is the point at which time touches eternity.” This is where God lives in our lives. God is not in the past or the future, but there to greet us in the present moment.  How do we stay in the present moment?  Anthony DeMello in Sadhana teaches us that living in our body and not living out of our head keeps us grounded. Spending time in nature connects us to the present. Being with children keeps us in the present, for that is where they live.

Joanna                  joannaseibert.com

Jesus Pray

“Lord God, Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on me. “

This is a modification of the Agnus Dei recited or sung in the Eucharist or communion service at what is called the fraction as the celebrant breaks the consecrated bread. The prayer is also a modification of the ancient Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” I have used this modification for years, on awakening, during the day, especially during difficult times, and as I fall asleep.  When the Jesus Prayer or a modification is repeated continually, it is considered a Prayer of the Heart, opening the heart, with unceasing prayer as called for by Paul in two of his letters. (Romans 12:12 and 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

I have only been to one General Convention of the Episcopal Church. What I most remember is attending a special lecture by Henri Nouwen. I continually give thanks that I took time out of a busy day to go. I do not remember a word Nouwen said, but I do remember his presence. It was loving, accepting, not centered on himself, at peace with himself, the closest thing I have seen to a holy presence. I can still feel that presence in his writings. Nouwen’s theme of praying the prayer of the heart in Reaching Out, The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life, moves our prayers from the head to the heart, realizing that the answers to questions and the presence of God are in our heart. Nouwen’s thoughts remind me of the spiritual exercises of DeMello who uses imaging our body and breath to move from our head to our heart and body.  One of Nouwen’s major recommendations to make this movement from head to heart is using the Jesus Prayer.

The Jesus Prayer has been a part of my being, most particularly when I find myself living in fear, but I have never said it unceasing 3000 times a day, then 6000, then 12,000 times a day as was recommended by the 5th century Egyptian desert fathers and by the 19th century Russian monk to the anonymous Russian peasant in The Way of the Pilgrim.  I confess that I do pray the Jesus Prayer more often when I feel my human limits are reached, indicating my powerlessness rather using the prayer on God’s terms. Nouwen teaches about the paradox of prayer, learning to pray when we can only receive prayer as a gift.  It is God’s spirit, God’s breath that prays into and with us. Instead, I so often use prayer, especially the Jesus Prayer in times of weakness, as a support system, a foxhole prayer, when I no longer can help or control the situation and am desperate, a surrendering, Nouwen reminds us to use the Jesus Prayer as a prayer when we are able instead to reach out to God not on our own terms and needs but on God’s terms. This kind of prayer then pulls us away from self-preoccupations, and challenges us to enter a new world, a great adventure, praying to our God who has no limits. 

Nouwen’s book, Reaching Out, about the spiritual journey and union with God using the Jesus Prayer is one I keep readily available by my bed. It is one I will recommend to those who come for spiritual direction if they ask for a book to read if they are experiencing the absence of God.  Nouwen writes that God is present, but God’s presence is so much beyond our human experience of being connected to God that it easily is perceived as absence.  Paradoxically, God’s absence is often so deeply felt that it can lead to a new sense of God’s presence.

This is also a good book to use in adult studies, especially in Advent or Lent.

The Way of the Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way, a new translation by Helen Bacovin, 1978.

Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out, The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life

Henri Nouwen, Desert Wisdom, Sayings from the Desert Fathers.

Joanna             joannaseibert.com

Where is God?

Where is God?

“God is in the kitchen, sitting quietly over 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

I share this short writing by Bishop Seven Charleston from his daily Facebook page with spiritual friends who cannot seem to find any answers to the question, “So, where do you see God working in your life?”  I suggest an exercise of writing down places they have been that day, people they have meet and would like to remember and seeing if any feelings or thoughts of the presence of God there come to them at the end of the day. It is important to write it down if possible. Writing takes things out of our body and mind 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 that is always there right beside them all day… and night.

The church at which I serve is on a corner with a stoplight. Recently our family minister, Luke, started putting a short “stop light prayer” on our church’s electronic sign by the stop light. We weekly hear of people whose day changes when they stop just for a second to connect to our God who is always there. Briefly stopping what we are doing, becoming aware of creation around us is our first step out of ourselves and into the life of knowing and feeling the ever presence of God.

Joanna    joannaseibert@me.com