Wiederkehr: Pressing the Space Bar in Our Lives

Wiederkehr: Pressing the Space Bar in Our Lives

“Long ago, when I was learning to type, I used to delight in typing letters to my friends without pressing the space bar. Now, when you don’t press the space bar, you’ve got a real mess, and much decoding must be done. The spaces in between enable us to understand the message.”—Macrina Wiederkehr in The Song of the Seed: A Monastic Way of Tending the Soul (HarperOne, 1997).

I remember reading this message from Sister Wiederkehr more than twenty years ago, and it still jumps off the page for me. She reminds us that many forget to press the space bar in our lives. She calls it hurry sickness. After finishing this email, project, phone call, or meeting, we will rest. But we always have something else to do, and the rest never happens. Macrina calls us to regular spaces of contemplation, meditation, or silence at intervals in our lives.

One of my favorite definitions of such a “space” is to stop what we are doing and attend a Quaker meeting in our heads. Macrina reminds us of a Native American admonition to listen, or our tongue will keep us deaf! I often experience this when I wake up in the morning, and suddenly, an answer or idea comes after that long rest during the night. Likewise, when I stop to say prayers at daily intervals, life is more peaceful.

But I can so easily become the driver of a Mack truck coming down a steep hill without brakes and hurriedly rushing during the day from task to task without stopping.

Today, my best help in “spacing” is looking up intermittently from my floor-to-ceiling window on the other side of my desk and watching the birds at my feeder. Sometimes, they actually chant and call me to prayer.

My husband gave me a clock that sounds the hour with a bird call. Every hour I now also hear a call to stop and say a short prayer, usually the Jesus prayer. This has been a great gift.

Our computers and iPhones also speak to us. Have you ever noticed how much bigger the space bar is than the letter keys?

Give thanks today for Macrina and the many lives she has touched in Arkansas and worldwide.

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

Slow Down and Wait

Slow Down and Wait

“When I am told that waiting seems to belong to the heart of the spiritual life, I’m not pleased, for I want answers, direction, clarity—and I want them pronto.”—Robert Barron, “What Are You Waiting For,” in U.S. Catholic, Dec 2003.

Langley on Abbey Road

  Barron starts with that old joke about the pilot, who announces he has good and bad news. “The bad news is we are totally lost. The good news is we are making excellent time!”

My experience is that spiritual friends initially come to talk because they are consciously or unconsciously in some kind of pain and, like the rest of us, seek relief and answers, hopefully very soon. We soon remember times of awareness of staying connected to God, which requires much waiting.

“Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31-1) This verse is known to most people and can help us remember about waiting when we are impatient. We will experience times when we will fly and walk and not be tired, but waiting is still a significant part of our relationship with God and each other. 12-step groups talk about not leaving before the miracle happens.

 I have learned a few exercises about waiting as a physician. I would often go to meetings or have patients or other doctors who would keep me waiting. I would have those tremendous ego experiences of “I am very important. You should not keep me waiting. Don’t you know how valuable my time is?” When overcome with these thoughts, I end up mad, arrogant, and testy when the person or group finally comes. This is never helpful for the interaction.

Gradually, by some miracle, I realized that waiting is an opportunity to pray for that person or group before we meet, or it is an opportunity to meditate and calm my soul before the meeting. Waiting becomes a gift from that person, making all the difference in my relationship with those I meet. The same is true about waiting for God.

 Goodness knows God spends a great deal of time waiting for us.

 Of course, centering prayer, meditation, contemplation, and Lectio Divina are also more exercises about waiting.

Spiritual writer Michael Vinson suggests a waiting exercise of remembering times in our lives when we wait, and the miracle comes. For example, perhaps we wait before talking to someone about a situation until we hear the entire story. 

Another spiritual writer, Jane Wolfe, responds to Michael in his blog that God will always give us a nudge when it is time to respond and act after we wait.
 Jane reminds us of Mary giving Jesus that nudge at the wedding at Cana when it was now time for him to do something!

 “Sit and Wait,” Friday Food, jmichaelvinson.com, February 24, 2017.

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

Wisdom from the Harp

Wisdom from the Harp

“For the elements changed places with one another,

as on a harp, the notes vary in the nature of the rhythm,

while each note remains the same.”—Wisdom 19:18.

A friend recently reminded me of this scripture verse in morning prayer. I read the first part of the Wisdom reading that morning but missed this last part. I hope I won’t miss it next time, for this ancient verse describes music well, especially the harp. I began a journey with this classical instrument over forty years ago when my daughter begged for a whole year to get a harp.

The strings are the piano’s white keys, so it is easy if you understand the piano. Next, you lean the harp against your body so you can hear the vibrations and feel the music within you.

The harp has taught me so many lessons about life, other than the discipline of trying to master a technique for following and plucking strings.

When one string breaks, it is challenging to continue playing. Part of playing is knowing the relationships of each string to the other. Now, a gap, large or small, changes the entire road map. I must take the time to replace the string as soon as possible.

Then, it takes days or weeks for that new string to stretch and be in tune. Then, finally, it must be “mentored,” so to speak.

Almost every atmospheric condition changes the harp strings. Constant tuning is mandatory. My husband loves the old joke about harpists. “We spend half our time tuning and the other half playing out of tune!”

On this musical journey, the harp has become an icon for living and working in community.

Its constant need for tuning reminds me how much I must try to stay current, learning, and staying in relationship with what is happening in the world around me.

If I don’t, I become “out of tune,” either too sharp or too flat.  

I would love to hear from others about life lessons they have learned from a musical instrument.

Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/