Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. -Luke 9:28-29 Today’s gospel reading is of the Transfiguration of Jesus which is a story of seeing and how beauty becomes a window onto the divine. The [...]
Archive for February, 2010
Celebrate with me!!
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Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction – the book – is here! My box of books has arrived – I got a sneak peek at my new book at a book festival a week and a half ago and finally have my own copies to hold in my hand and savor. [...]
Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist
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I recently completed an incredible journey. I had the privilege of accompanying a group of extraordinarily thoughtful monks and artist from across the US and around the world in an online journey through my newest writing project Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist. When I first announced this class session in late November, [...]
Visual Meditation: World Congress of Benedictine Oblates
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A visual meditation with images from my travels during the World Congress of Benedictine Oblates in October 2009. The photos were taken in the Vatican City, Rome, Subiaco (Benedict's Cave), Monte Cassino (Benedictine monastery), and Sant'Anselmo (Primatial Abbey). The music is by Hildegard of Bingen. © Christine Valters Paintner at Abbey of the Arts: Transformative [...]
Lenten Reflections
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My inner monk adores this Lenten season, this invitation to walk straight out into the desert and be present to all of the ways my inner demons (those forces that keep me from being free) wrestle inside of me. One of my favorite Biblical passages is the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel and [...]
this week's winner is . . .
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. . . painter of blue! Sybil won my random drawing for a copy of Sacred Poetry: An Invitation to Write – please send me your snail mail and that will go out to you. A deep bow of gratitude to everyone who offered their words of beauty and grace here in this virtual Abbey [...]
God in 100 Words or Less
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I was invited to be a part of Patheos' new Theoblogger Challenge – God in 100 Words or Less. (Patheos is a multifaith website where I occasionally write for the Catholic and Mainline Protestant Portals.) One of their regular features is the Public Square, and this week the subject is God. They decided to reach [...]
Ash Wednesday: Practice Truth-Telling
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** Stop by this week’s Poetry Party on Entering the Desert’s Fire ** The reflection below is a slightly edited reprint of something I wrote a few years ago for Ash Wednesday which still calls me to respond to its invitation: _____________________________________________________ Today we leave ordinary time to enter into the journey of Lent through [...]
Invitation to Poetry: Entering the Desert's Fire
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Welcome to our 44th Poetry Party! I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your poems or other reflections. Add your responses in the comments section. Feel free to take your poem in any direction and then post the image and invitation on your blog (if you have one) and encourage others [...]
Lenten E-Course on Benedictine Spiritual Practice UPDATE
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Are you longing for a meaningful way to commit to contemplative practice for Lent? Would you like to integrate a retreat experience into your everyday life with guided daily email support from an experienced teacher of prayer? Are you wondering if there's still time to sign up? I have had several inquiries in the last [...]
