New Things

Now I am revealing new things to you
Things hidden and unknown to you
Created just now, this very moment.
Of these things you have heard nothing until now.
So that you cannot say, Oh yes, I knew this.

-Isaiah 48:6-7

There is lots of newness here at the Abbey.  In many ways it feels like spring has fully sprung (and I do love winter)!   I am hard at work on my next Reflective Art Journal which will be a collaborative effort on the theme of Illuminating Mystery: Creativity as Spirituality Practice.  In addition to my own writing on the topic, I will include some art and quotes from several of the Sacred Artist Interviews I have conducted over the last year or so.  I am very excited about this issue and hope you will consider pre-ordering some copies!  The profits from this particular issue will go to an organzation serving those on the margins through the arts.

For my Fall/Winter Zine on Crossing the Threshold, I switched over to Blurb to try out their printing.  I love the printer I have been using, but I have to buy 500 copies at a time to make the price affordable which is a big initial expense that I slowly re-coup as I sell copies.  The appeal of Blurb was that I didn't have to buy so many at once and I could re-order as needed.  The quality of their printing is terrific, although I have to say I like the lay-flat binding of my other printer better. So after the experimentation, my conclusion is that I have to charge more per issue using Blurb than I would like to.  And so I am returning to my original printer and bringing my prices back down to $15 per copy (includes tax & shipping) again.

You might also consider an Annual Subscription, a feature that is now returning to my Abbey Shop.  $50 for 4 issues coming straight to your mailbox as soon as they are released.  My next couple of issues after this one will be a collaboration with my teaching partner Betsey Beckman.  She is producing a series of DVDs of gospel stories of women.  The first will be Mary Magdalene (and the inspiration for our day retreat) and the second will be Woman at the Well.  I am going to work on creating a Reflective Art Journal to accompany each of these as a resource for retreat (coming in summer and winter)

Speaking of Mary Magdalene, if you were interested in joining us for the Mary Magdalene Day of Retreat for Women we had to reschedule to Saturday, February 21st, so there is till time to register!  It will be held at The Center at St Andrew's.

Probably my most exciting news is that Betsey and I will be co-writing a new book together based on our Awakening the Creative Spirit program!  The Spiritual Directors International Imprint Series through Morehouse Publishing accepted our proposal and even more exciting — and just a bit daunting — is that they want the manuscript by early September for a release at the April 2010 SDI Conference in San Francisco!  I am thrilled that we will be able to offer this resource for those in spiritual direction and other kinds of ministry who want to learn more about the gifts of the expressive arts.  (And out next Awakening the Creative Spirit dates are May 17-22 on the gorgeous shores of the Hood Canal!)  Even more fun has been contacting the previous participants of our program inviting them to make some contributions and hearing the ways this work is rippling across space and time.

The scripture passage above is one of my favorites.  It speaks of a God who always offers us unimaginable newness at every turn.  At the very moment when we think nothing more could possibly happen, God reveals something brilliant, radiant, challenging, beautiful.

I hope you'll celebrate with me and listen for your own impossible newness breaking forth right this very second.  Can you hear it?

(c) Christine Valters Paintner at Abbey of the Arts:
Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts