Charleston: Heaven and Gated Communities

‘My problem with the idea of heaven as a gated community, where only some people will be allowed to enter, is memory. Even if I got to be one of the chosen few, I would not enjoy being in heaven because I would remember all of the good people I knew who didn't make it. I would miss them. I would worry about them. I would want to help them. So the private heaven idea just doesn't work for me. I know, admire and respect too many people from too many different walks of life to let that life end in anything but love and community.” Steven Charleston, Facebook Page

Bishop Charleston is telling us in no uncertain terms that heaven is not a gated community where only those with the right code can get in. We all have our own image of heaven. We long for it to be a place where we see those we have loved who have died. We long to find a place of peace and love. When we have connected to a God of our understanding, we experience love in a new way that also brings us to see ourselves and our neighbors in a new light of love. Something tells us instinctively that this love never dies. Perhaps the only thing we carry with us into life after death is love. Perhaps what we most leave on this earth is love. I have been taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is not only after we die, but it is right here in the present as well. Our choice is to be aware of it.

If heaven in life after death is not gated, perhaps that tells us something about the heaven we may know on this earth. It as well is not gated. It is learning to love all we come in contact with every day. As we do this and look for the Christ, the holiness in each other, our concept of who we will relate to in life beyond death also enlarges.

Our city mourns today one of our African American policemen, Marc Collins, who died much too young from cancer. I am reading all the tributes to him. I have known him for almost 30 years. I only saw love as I remember him as a friend, a neighborhood officer, a member of a SWAT team, a Navy Seal. I am overcome with love remembering him. He left so much love on this earth and I know he takes it with him as well. Marc is one more person teaching us that heaven is a place of love and is not gated on this earth or in the life to come.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com

Book Signing Wordsworth Books

Saturday, November 2, 2019 1 to 3 pm

Just in time for the holidays

A Spiritual Rx for Advent Christmas, and Epiphany

The Sequel to A Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter

Both are $18. Money from sale of the books goes to Camp Mitchel Camp and Conference Center in Arkansas or Hurricane Relief in

The Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast

John McCain

“But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,

and no torment will ever touch them.

In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,

and their departure was thought to be a disaster,

and their going from us to be their destruction;

but they are at peace.

For though in the sight of others they were punished,

their hope is full of immortality.

Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,

because God tested them and found them worthy of himself.

Those who trust in him will understand truth,

and the faithful will abide with him in love,

because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,

and he watches over his elect.” —Wisdom 3:1-5, 9.

Along with many Americans, I spent several days watching memorials to Senator John McCain last year. On the Saturday morning of his funeral, I watched the service at the National Cathedral. I became awed at the Cathedral almost thirty years ago when our friends Joanne and Allan Meadors introduced us to it through the National Cathedral Association, and we became hooked. For twenty years we visited it at least twice a year, often staying at the College of Preachers on its grounds. I am still reeling from this memorable service on that Saturday morning held in such a familiar sacred space.

Former Senator Kelly Ayotte read these beautiful scriptural words from the Book of Wisdom, which are recommended for the Burial Office.

What a tribute that a man can so inspire us through his death—by how he lived, and even how he planned his burial service. I can barely talk about it, much less write about it. Many of us were reduced to tears by Meghan McCain’s tribute to her father. This is a real sign of greatness, when a man so involved in politics is also deeply cared for and loved by his children.

The entire service was inspiring, a remembrance of an icon—of someone who made mistakes and owned up to them; who dared to cross the aisle at the Senate to listen to representatives of the other party; who learned to speak his own truth and face the consequences.

Many believe that he grew in character as a result of his five years of captivity in North Vietnam as a prisoner of war. Most of us cannot imagine what that was like. McCain is a role model for us of someone who turned his trials into gold.

I see many lives in captivity, not in the way McCain’s was, but caught in the captivity of addictions or addictive lifestyles. I daily encounter ordinary men and women who have learned from and come out of that life into what Christians would call a life of resurrection, a new life beyond anything they could have dreamed. Many who knew them in the past can no longer recognize them—physically, mentally, or spiritually.

John McCain’s service was a service of resurrection, a reminder for all of us that there is another way to live and that we can begin that journey before death.

Joanna . joannaseibert.com

Book Signing Wordsworth Books

Saturday, November 2, 2019 1 to 3 pm

Just in time for the holidays

A Spiritual Rx for Advent Christmas, and Epiphany

The Sequel to A Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter

Both are $18. Money from sale of the books goes to Camp Mitchel Camp and Conference Center in Arkansas or Hurricane Relief in

The Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast

Busyness Shield

“An efficiently busy life that keeps us occupied without being harried and keeps our attention entirely on interesting outer things is probably more potentially destructive of spiritual growth than debauchery or alcohol or hard drugs…. On the other hand, a quiet, efficient, and busy life spent continuously in good works can shield us effectively from any plunge into the depth where the Divine can find us.”

–Morton Kelsey in The Other Side of Silence

Martin Kelsey reminds us of two major life styles that society celebrates that can be dangerous to our mind, body, and spirit. Being so busy at home or at work can make us unable to have time for that inner God connection where we learn who God created us to be. On the other hand, when our busyness is so much involved in good works so that we cannot have time to find out if this is really our call, we again may not be doing the work God created us to do. Kelsey points out that these life styles can be as destructive to our bodies, our minds, our souls as alcohol or drugs. Both of these life styles are destructive rather than healthy. They both are addictive. We keep wanting to do more. Instead the God within and above us cries out for our presence, and our bodies and souls and minds cry out. We realize something is missing. We have a moment of clarity. We realize we have filled our God hole with busyness and good works. We start to try to follow a rule of life, stopping during regular times during the day to connect to God. This works for awhile until some project comes our way, and we are back into our addiction. So, what helps? One of the best ways I know is living in community, talking and sharing with others how we are doing, supporting each other in prayer. God calls us to community for our own health.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com

Book Signing Wordsworth Books

                       Saturday, November 2, 2019  1 to 3 pm

                                 Just in time for the holidays

              A Spiritual Rx for Advent Christmas, and Epiphany

                  The Sequel to A Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter

 Both are $18.   Money from sale of the books goes to Camp Mitchel   Camp and Conference Center in Arkansas or Hurricane Relief in

                    The Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast