When I was in a difficult stretch a few years back, Joan of Arc became my guide and inspiration. I had the image you see here hanging on the door of my former office (now in my home office). I had a statue of her leading the battle charge on my office table (now in my living room). I have socks with her image on them. I have a t-shirt with her image and her famous statement: “I am not afraid; I was born for this.” And I have begun making my own mixed-media interpretations of her in a series I call Joan of Art. (See two images below)

Let us not forget how Joan was treated during her lifetime — accused of witchcraft, heresy, cross-dressing, and more, and eventually burned at the stake. Now the Church celebrates her as a hero and a saint. No matter how she was treated, no matter how many threats, she never wavered in what she believed was her calling. May Joan of Arc inspire us to live out our purpose on this earth, even when others doubt or challenge us. Even when our own Church doubts or challenges us. Who is God calling you to be? Do that, and do not be afraid.

Joan of Art 1 

Joan of Art 2

Mixed media images by Mary DeTurris Poust (do not reproduce)

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When I was in a difficult stretch a few years back, Joan of Arc became my guide and inspiration. I had the image you see here hanging on the door of my former office (now in my home office). I had a statue of her leading the battle charge on my office table (now in my living room). I have socks with her image on them. I have a t-shirt with her image and her famous statement: “I am not afraid; I was born for this.”

Let us not forget how Joan was treated during her lifetime — accused of witchcraft, heresy, cross-dressing, and more, and eventually burned at the stake. Now the Church celebrates her as a hero and a saint. No matter how she was treated, no matter how many threats, she never wavered in what she believed was her calling. May Joan of Arc inspire us to live out our purpose on this earth, even when others doubt or challenge us. Even when our own Church doubts or challenges us. Who is God calling you to be? Do that, and do not be afraid.

The post Be like Joan of Arc. Be who you are called to be. appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

What made people feel threatened by Joan then is the very same thing that makes people feel threatened today: new ideas. She challenged the status quo, and that makes people very uncomfortable. Change is never easy. And while change is hard on the person making the actual choice for a different path, it turns out that it can be even harder for those on the outside, where unlikely or seemingly outrageous choices can make people feel confused, fearful and agitated. As someone who has made the unlikely or outrageous choice multiple times in my life, I understand how hard it is to go against the grain.

We’re only a week into the new year and many people will have already failed to live up to the resolutions they set. Why? Because creating new habits and taking new paths is difficult, especially if we don’t anchor that change in something with greater meaning than the number on a Fitbit or bathroom scale. If we want real transformation, something that will change us from the inside out, we have to do the hard work of self-examination, time spent in silence listening for the movement of the Spirit in our lives. When we do that — not just once but regularly — we suddenly find that, like Joan, we are not afraid to do what we were born for.

Last month, the still small voice began to get louder and louder for me, like a drumbeat that could not be ignored. No matter how much I tried to busy myself with projects and trainings, Netflix shows and good food, it was there. Constant. Insistent. Silent but booming. And I knew it was time for me to take that leap of faith into the next place God is calling me to go. It would have been easier in many ways to stay with what was known and comfortable, but most times the Spirit doesn’t offer comfort; the Spirit usually asks us to go to the places that scare us.

So that is what I am doing — with joy and excitement, and, yes, a healthy dose of nervousness. I am leaving the security of my job at the diocesan pastoral center to return to my home-based writing and retreat business, because writing is at the heart of who I am, and it is time to get back to it in a more intentional way. Writing is like breathing to me. I cannot imagine my life without words pouring out onto paper on a near-constant basis. It’s what I have done professionally for 37 years running. Even when I was working a full-time day job, I was writing “on the side” whenever possible. It’s time to flip that dynamic and follow my calling. It is what I was born to do, of that I have never had a doubt, and I am not afraid.

This column originally appeared in the Jan. 6, 2022, issue of The Evangelist.

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