This newsletter is a publication of the Mystical Order of the White Rose, an emerging multi-faith cyber-community for people interested in--or actively involved with--traditional and/or new, post-modern, expressions of mysticism, monasticism, and contemplative living. The newsletter is published about every two weeks and each issue contains daily multi-faith and multi-media devotional readings as well as writings and profiles of mystics, contemplatives, artists and visionaries. If you are not already a subscriber, you may become one by clicking here.
Our intention is to encourage, support and educate people about mystical and contemplative ways of living with special emphasis on prayer, meditation, lectio divina (reflective reading of sacred or uplifting texts), journaling, creative and artistic expression and service.
In addition to the usual multi-faith, multi-media daily devotional readings, this fourth issue of the newsletter published by the still fledgling Mystical Order of the White Rose features: an article by and about a Roman Catholic nun, Sister Althea Jackson, who is engaged in a highly traditional form of monastic living; an interview with Jo Stephens, a non-traditional mystic who sees quiliting as her spiritual path; a report on the Beliefnet Commmunity Social Network; a poem by Maya Angelou; and a photo-essay about an art exhibit that expresses the convergence of art and science.
The newsletter's editor, Cynthia Lee, continues to be challenged by time and task management to an even higher degree than usual during an especially intense period of transition and transformation as well as a period marked by less cosmic developments, such as being physically disabled by the flu and food poisoning. Thank you for bearing with late delivery of the daily devotionals and the editor's, newsletter's and Order's growing pains.
Bright Blessings and Peace Be With You....
Table Of Contents
-- Daily Devotional Readings for Feburary 15-29, 2008
-- "Sister Althea Jackson--A Roman Catholic Nun Who Doesn't Live In A Convent" and related links and resources.
-- "Quilting As A Spiritual Path" - A Profile of Jo Stephens by Cynthia Kiteley Lee and related links and resources.
-- "Becoming Part Of the Beliefnet Community" - A report by Cynthia Kiteley Lee
-- "The Happy Heart" - A poem by Maya Angelou
-- "Dreaming About The Universe -- When Art and Science Converge" an exhibit by Anne-Marie Pochat and Jean-Pierre Luminet - A photo-essay
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DAILY DEVOTIONAL READINGS FOR FEBRUARY 1-14
Please click on this link to access the daily devotional readings for January 15-31. Once there, you will find a separate listing for each day that is underlined. Click on it to access the day you want and you will be taken directly to the reading for that day.
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Sister Althea Jackson -- A Roman Catholic Nun Who Doesn't Live In A Convent...
by Sister Althea Jackson, M.S.
How can I be a nun and not be living in a convent? Technically, a nun is in a convent, but it is easier for folks to understand my situation if we start here. I am a "sister," that is, I have made a profession of vows (of poverty, chastity and obedience), but I live in "the world."
When I was born (June 27, 1922 in Taunton, Massachusetts), my Protestant parents did not attend any church, and I wasn't baptized. In 1925, my only sister, Barbara, asked my folks if she could go to the Episcopal Church Sudnay School, where her friend, Helen Stack, went. They were both three years older than I. "Only if you'll take Althea with you," was the response. I faithfully attended St. Thomas Episcopal Church Sunday School from then until the fall of 1940, when I was 18, and went off to Middlebury College in Vermont.
I loved Sunday School. We had a glass globe, probably eight inches in diameter, with a slotted metal top. Every Sunday, the children who'd be having birthdays would drop in a penny for each year of their age. Since my birthday was June 27, and Sunday School closed for the summer vacation, I never was able to add any pennies. As I realized that all the other youngsters had been baptized, I arranged, when I was eleven years old, to attend (with two other girls) weekly "group" sessions with the rector, and I was baptized at a private service on "Easter Even," Saturday, March 31, 1934. My mother was my baptism "sponsor."
When the 83-year-old bishop (Suffragen Bishop Samuel G. Babcock) came for confirmation of that year's class, I was confirmed by him. Babcock, who had been consecrated bishop in 1913, retired in 1937 and died at age 91 in 1942.
Finally I was able to receive Communion. Till then, those who were not going to receive communion left the church on Sunday, after the sermon and before Communion was distributed.
For ten summers (1930-1039) I spent eight weeks at an Episcopal girls' camp in New Hampshire. Once in July, and once in August, an Episcopal priest (who spent the summer nearby) came and had a Communion Service at the camp. I was delighted when I could finally receive Communion at those services, in 1934.
Years later, I learned that the Episcopal Church had convents and monasteries, with nuns and monks. I became a Lay Associate of Order of St. Anne in Arlington Heights, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. I lived in their convent and taught in their school for a few months in 1964.
I am an avid reader. My favorite genre is biography. Two of my favorite people, Thomas Merton and Elizabeth Ann Seton, converted from the Episcopal Church to the Roman Catholic Church. Their lives and my reading of the Bible cover-to-cover, while awaiting the birth of my first child in 1946 (and reading two other translations over the years) eventually made it clear to me that the Lord founded one church, which was to be based in Rome (the center of the then-known world) and that is the Roman Catholic Church. The Episcopal. Church is the American part of the Church of England, founded by King Henry VIII (who had been acclaimed by the pope for his great work) when Henry was denied a divorce from the first of his many wives. The ruling monarch of the Anglican Church is still the secular head of that church.
I eventually was received into the Roman Catholic Church on Christmas morning, 1979. My daughter Jean joined me, and became a Roman Catholic on January 13, 1980, the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord.
After my husband's death in 1974, I joined a religious order whose members were instructed by mail; the headquarters were in Jacksonville, Florida. I moved from Massachussetts to St. Augustine, Florida, in June of 1982, having bought a Bible and Book Store. My daughter, who lives with me, and I joined the Cathedral Parish. As long as I was able, I attended daily mass.
When that order no longer existed, I joined the Marists, the Society of Mary. I'm grateful that, while I still could, I drove to Atlanta in 1998 and to Louisiana in 2000 to attend Marist conferences, where I enjoyed getting to know many Marsist priests and religious. At the chief mass in Atlanta, I sang as a solo a hymn honoring Mary for which I wrote both the words and the music. What a privilege!
In December of 1976, I founded My Angelus-Rosary Yeomen (M.A.R.Y) to encourage the praying of the Angelus and the rosary. To date, 760 people have joined, of whom 70% (328) are women, and 232 (30%) are men.
For many years, I heard from new people regularly. Since most people have now stopped looking through the Episcopal Church Annual (where M.A.R.Y. is still listed) and look on the "web" instead, few have found M.A.R.Y.
As I was about to mail this article , I heard from a 49-year old California man who saw M.A.R.Y. listed in the 1993 Annual and wrote to join!
Several people with whom I am in regular contact (by mail and by phone) I first connected with through M.A.R.Y. Some of them have converted (as I did, from the Episcopal Church to the Roman Catholic Church). I made no effort to encourage these members to convert. In fact, the director of the Mystical Order of the White Rose, Cynthia Lee, was the 734th person to write and join M.A.R.Y. in March, 1997. We have corresponded and talked on the phone ever since, on a regular basis. Cynthia was, and still is, a Protestant.
My life is now greatly simplified. For years I attended daily mass at the Cathedral of St. Augustine. Now, Jean and I have Eucharistic Ministers bring communion to us every Sunday. My friends, who live all over the United States (and one in Canada) keep in touch by mail and phone.
I still read the "Daily Office" as priests and nuns and brothers do, and am, therefore, sharing the same psalms, scriptures and prayers with people worldwide, from the Pope to all priests and religious, and many laymen.
Sister Althea Jackson can be contacted at 711 Cross Park Drive, St. Augustine, FL 32084 or (904) 829-3962.
Related Resources
"The Role of Lay Associates In Religious Life" -- A posting on A Nun's Life Blog.
Read a review of this historical, mystical novel: Confessions Of A Pagan Nun
Praying The News - A Sophisticated Website And Approach To Contemplative Community Life by Carmelite Sisters of Indianapolis. Be prepared to spend some time exploring the riches of this realm. Here's an article about the sisters and their lives: http://www.crosswalk.com/525644/ .
Video Of A Television Commercial Promoting Catholic Nuns
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"Creation is itself but a longing, a kind of Prayer to the Almighty."
- Cindy Lutz Cornet
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Jo Stephens - Qulting As A Spiritual Path
by Cynthia Kiteley Lee
A native of Texas, Jo Stephens grew up in the panhandle where she learned to love the beauty of endless skies painted with constantly shifting colors and shapes.
She moved to Northwest Arkansas 16 years ago with her husband Wes Stephens, who now works as a master massage therapist. Her daughter Nora and her two grandchildren live in Texas, as do most of her other relatives, so Jo and Wes maintain strong ties to their home state by frequent trips to visit family.
Over the years, Jo has explored and developed skills in many types of creative activities. Initially she pursued studies in music, then moved on to painting in oils and acriylics on canvas. In the 1970s she took up fine needle work.
Jo's great grandmother was of Cherokee and Choctaw descent and this connection, along with her exposure to Native American culture in the Arkansas-Oklahoma borderlands, stimulated her interest in beadwork. She started to create distinctive beaded amulets with well defined images (and not just geometric designs) on both sides.
Her most recent artistic passion is designing and creating quilts, something she's been doing for the better part of a decade. Jo's quilts are characterized by a bold use of color, especially jewel tones, and dramatic designs The original and complex designs Jo creates and the skill with which she has fleshed them out in beads, fabric, paint and other media over the years have attracted attention, admirers and buyers, some of whom commission her to do custom work.
Jo sees quilting as her primary spiritual path. She says "quliting enables me to feel that I am part of Divine Mystery and Creation to a greater degree than I do in other activities. Quliting is my favorite form of meditation and prayer. It’s so easy for me to click into meditation when I quilt. Staring at my belly button or closing my eyes and repeating a mantra bores me to tears. I seem to have to have my hands in motion to really pray. Some people click the beads on a rosary--I quilt."
She points out that "in the process of creating a quilt, I go into "the zone," and then everything seems to just flow. When I'm in that flow, in the zone, in that meditative space, time goes away; my aches and pains go away. I simply am, totally in the present. I feel deep peace and joy. I keep teling people that quliting, like life should be, is about the journey, not the destination. You learn to take one step and do one thing at a time a very focused way."
Jo is not affiliated with any mainstream religious institutions and doesn't "like labels." She says that "I guess if I had to describe my religious identity I'd describe myself as a gnostic. If I understand correctly, gnostics don't need articles of faith and creeds and such because they personally know what I call Divine Mystery or Creator. They know that Creator is part of them and know that they are part of the Creator. They come from deep down knowing; not intellectual believing and hair-splitting. I don't know who wrote this quote, but it resonates with me. It says: 'There is no end to what I am for I am God and God is me and there is nothing else to be.' "
Another image that resonates strongly for Jo is one she came across years ago when reading a science fiction novel. The idea was "that we are all atoms in the body of God, so anything I do affects the world, and anything in the world affects me. It's like all the elements of life are interdependent, just as, in a quilt, or other work of art, all the elements are interdependent."
In Jo's experience, mainstream religious beliefs and institutions can be very polarizing. She says that "even using the word God can get very tricky. I really bristle at being told that I'm damned and going to hell simply because I don't share the exact same beliefs someone else does. Using religion as a basis for division, criticism, hate and war seems all wrong somehow. I don't know the author of this quote, either, but I agree with them: 'We build temples of stone when God asks us to build a place for Him in our hearts.'"
Jo's heart and hands have served as a very special place for God, or--as she would say--for Divine Mystery.
You can contact Jo Stephens at Twelve Feathers Studio, 110 N. Gunter St., Siloam Springs, AR 72761 or 479-524-8855.
Related Resources
Learn about Prayers and Squares International, whose motto is: "It's not about the quilt; it's all about the prayers."
Here's an article about "Crafts Create A Spiritual Movement"
and another one about the "Fabric of Faith"
Find out more about the book Art and Soul: A Spiritual Approach To Crafts by Cindy Lutz Kornet and this book: The Quilting Path--A Guide To Spiritual Discovery Through Fabric, Thread and Kabbala by Louise Silk. Kornet says that: " "Creation is itself but a longing, a kind of Prayer to the Almighty."
An intuitive, healer and quilt artist, Rona Goldstein has created several types of healing pillows. Each pillow is made with certain colors, symbols and aromatherapy treatments and infused with spiritual energies and positive affirmations to help balance and uplift those who use them.
Becoming Part of The Beliefnet Community
a report by Cynthia Lee
A friend who recently accepted my invitation to join the Beliefnet Community informed me that she didn't know whether to thank me for introducing her to such a wonderful soul-full social network---or scold me for getting her into something that is so stimulating and so addictive and time-consuming that it seems likely to disrupt her well organized and very busy life.
I am very grateful to David Bookbinder for drawing me into the Beliefnet Community through his blog "Flower Mandalas--A Blog About Art, Healing and Transformation" and gentle but persistent nudging. I have no intention of scolding him for pushing and pulling me into the Beliefnet Community, but my friend is right--it's wonderful, soul-full, stimulating and addictive.
After joining six or seven social networks over the last couple of years, and doing an abysmal, erratic job of being active in most of them, I had pretty well given up on social networking as something I simply didn't have the time or temperament to do.
Since I've had such a positive experience with the Beliefnet Community, I was planning to push forward with a long-held notion of joining the Zaadz Community. However, I just now discovered that it has morphed into the Gaiam Community but can still be found at: http://www.zaadz.com. Further re(search) reveals that Zaadz was acquired by new owners last summer. Here's the scoop: http://mashable.com/2007/08/06/zaadz-gaiam. And here's the spirituality section of the community: http://community.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/id/CAT00005 I'll need to check it out more later on. For now, Beliefnet Community keeps me happy and jumping.
My experience with the Beliefnet Community has been comparable to discovering a tribe I belonged to but hadn't known existed---and to being like a kid in a candy shop. What a fascinating, friendly, talented, exotic, accepting, caring group of people I've stumbled upon. I anticipate many more happy hours gettng to know members of the community both individually and through group discussions and blog postings.
If you're not already a member, consider yourself invited to join this dynamic spiritual, mystical community. You can sign up here: http://community.beliefnet.com/mysticalwhiterose
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The happy heart
runs with the river,
floats on the air,
lifts to the music,
soars with the eagle,
hopes with
the prayer.
by Maya Angelou
from a Hallmark greeting card "Life Mosaic" series www.hallmark.com
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"Dreaming About The Universe -- When Art and Science Converge" an exhibit by Anne-Marie Pochat and Jena-Pierre Luminet - You can get a feel for this exhibit by looking and reading through the 11-page PDF photo-essay about the exhibit that was pubished by Plastir--A Transdisciplinary Review of Human Plasticity, Issue Number 3 - April 2006. You can learn more about the review and view past issues and artilces by clicking here. Give the PDF longer than usual to load because of all the graphics. The first few paragraphs of text are awkardly written (or translated, I suspect), but keep going, it gets better.
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Cynthia Kiteley Lee Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved mysticalwhiterose@gmail.com Published by the Mystical Order of the White Rose http://www.mysticalwhiterose.com
