Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

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    • Prayer Cycle
      • Day 1 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Cathedral
      • Day 2 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Scriptures
      • Day 3 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Saints
      • Day 4 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Spiritual Directors
      • Day 5 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Icon
      • Day 6 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Sacrament
      • Day 7 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Liturgy
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  • Books
    • Sacred Time:
      Embracing an Intentional Way of Life
    • The Wisdom of Wild Grace: Poems
    • Earth, Our Original Monastery:
      Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
    • Dreaming of Stones: Poems
    • The Soul's Slow Ripening:
      12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred
    • The Wisdom of the Body:
      A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women
    • Illuminating the Way:
      Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics
    • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
      Eight Practices for the Journey Within
    • Eyes of the Heart:
      Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice
    • The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom
    • Desert Mothers and Fathers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Annotated & Explained
    • Lectio Divina–The Sacred Art: Transforming Words and Images into Heart-Centered Prayer
    • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements
    • Awakening the Creative Spirit:
      Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction
    • Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening & Awareness
  • Poetry | Art | Music
    • Music + DVD
    • Poetry by Christine Valters Paintner
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      • Monk in the World art series by Kristin Noelle
      • Saints & Animals art series by David Hollington
      • Sacred Time art series by Alexi Francis
      • Mary block print art series by Kreg Yingst
  • Programs
    • Walk the Ancient Paths: Pilgrimage
      • Monk in the World (Ireland)
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Poetry and the Sacred Garden of the World (Ireland)
      • Vienna Monk in the World (Austria)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
    • Live Programs and Spiritual Retreats
      • Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts (Northwest)
    • Community Online Retreats
      • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color
      • The Way of the Hermit:
        A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times
        with Kayleen Asbo, PhD
      • The Spiral Way:
        Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination
      • Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers (Lent 2021)
      • Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life (Spring 2021)
    • Self-Study Online Spiritual Retreats
      • Creative Flourishing in the Heart of the Desert:
        An Online Retreat with St. Hildegard of Bingen
      • Dreaming of the Sea:
        A women’s discernment journey through the story of the Selkie
      • Earth, Our Original Monastery
        A Companion Retreat to the Book (SELF-STUDY)
      • Exile and Coming Home:
        An Archetypal Journey through the Scriptures
      • Eyes of the Heart:
        Photography as Contemplative Practice
        (Companion retreat to the book)
      • Honoring Saints and Ancestors:
        Online Retreat for the Season of Remembrance
      • Lectio Divina:
        The Sacred Art of Reading the World
      • A Midwinter God:
        Making a Conscious Underworld Journey
      • Sacred Rhythms of Sky, Sun, Sea & Stone:
        A Creative Retreat with the Elements (SELF-STUDY)
      • Sacred Seasons:
        A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year
      • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
        Eight Practices for the Journey Within
        (a companion retreat to the book)
      • The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred (a companion retreat to the book)
      • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire
      • Watershed Moments
        in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures
      • Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist:
        A 12-Week Companion Retreat to The Artist's Rule
      • The Wisdom of the Body:
        A 10-Week Online Companion Retreat to the Book
      • The Wisdom of Mary and the Sacred Feminine
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Monk in the World Guest Post Series

Monk in the World guest post: Heather van Warden

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Heather van Warden's reflection on the many ways of hearing God:

To be fully receptive to God,  we actually need to use all five of our senses.  We receive God not only in “hearing” with our ears, but by feeling, smelling, tasting, and seeing our Maker…and then, by combining all those senses into the true receiving of our Lord.  While I think we all need to receive God in this way, I believe that God communicates with each of us, in the way in which we, as individuals, will be most receptive.  God comes to us.  God provides us with the tools to receive what is being offered. We need to do nothing but be open to receive.  The importance of God’s provision came to me in our small group when we were doing Lectio on Luke 1:26-28.  The angel was sent; God sent…and Mary just obeyed and listened. God does it all…even opening our eyes, ears, and heart for us.

For me, the best venue to receive God is in silence…or at least infused with choral music.  Music with words that I can understand, interferes with my receiving.  It distracts.  However, the blended chorus of a harmony of voices singing in a language I cannot understand, encompassing every sound, tone, and volume known to man and woman, infuses me with God, with peace.  It puts my senses on hyperalert…yet not a hyper that makes my mind busy…a hyper that has all my senses at the ready.  Longing.  Yearning to hear the Voice.

A week after attending a retreat, I found myself longing to hear God and to receive guidance, as I had been able to, the entire time of the retreat.  It had been such an intimate time with our Saviour.  A time like I had never experienced before…a closeness. The touch, the warm, soft flesh accepting a kiss on the cheek; the tender hand taking mine and leading the way…I miss you Lord!  I miss that time.  However, God in his mercy has been so gracious, and just as our Lord came, sent, and provided to Mary at and after the Anunciation, so I have been graciously “spoken” to as well.  The “words” are of a love, guidance, and a presence, that I have experienced through all five of my senses.

As I have devoured Buechner, and at times pushed him away, I have seen that God has met me wherever I have been.  I have been met in words.  Words are what reach my soul.  Words are how God speaks to me and how I speak to God.  While I process the words in my head (my very precious “headtime” as I call it), those words come from my heart…From God, from the Creator’s home in my soul. Words meet me in silence and words come from me silently, although my heart weeps sometimes with those words, my heart also rejoices and almost bursts with joy at those words.  The emotions are silent, though not invisible.  Anyone around me can see the “beyond time” look in my eyes, can see the glow from my face, the change in my posture when God speaks to me… particularly, at this time in my life, through Buechner.  Buechner, for me, is the perfect vehicle to reach and connect with God through both beautiful and dark language.  To my dismay, Buechner does not only evoke in me feelings of contentment.  Having devoured every word of “The Sacred Journey” for dinner, I felt heartburn from “Telling Secrets” and a little reflux from “Now and Then.”  I was ready to dismiss these books but Mark, my Spiritual Advisor, reminded me that God speaks to us in our aversions as well as our attractions.  So what was it that put me off the other two books?  The “Sacred Journey” is such a book of praise.  It is so full of worship, so full of beautiful images of God and his relationship with us.  These are easy and joyful words to digest.  In “Telling Secrets” however, the book is much darker.  It is not so much about the beauty of the Lord, as it is about our darkness and how God is there too.  It is about looking to your past for answers to guide your future.  While my past has not been terrible, I have had my share of depression, of unfulfilled dreams, of heartbreak, of abuse, of loneliness.  I have realized in this exercise, that I am afraid of looking back.  I am afraid of confronting the past, afraid of experiencing abuse again,  but as Buechner says “…the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed secures your life also against being opened up and transformed by the holy power that life itself comes from.”(p.46, The Sacred Journey)

When I finally opened up that security gate, God was able to take up residence in my heart.  Now, we have the on-going job of homeowners, to decorate and repair the home, TOGETHER.  If that is to go smoothly, I need to slow down and listen.  I need to spend time in contemplation of my Maker and the work going on inside me.  God has a much better idea of how the house should look than do I but the plan is for us to share the work.  It is up to me to be receptive to the suggestions that the Maker sends my way."


unnamedHeather is a writer, historian, genealogist, avid researcher, a student of Christian theology, and a bookworm.  She is the author of “Salvador’s Questions” – a Christian Children’s book about Heaven.  She is currently researching an historical account of her forefathers and working on her blog, alightedpathsite.com

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Leave a Comment April 13, 2016

Upcoming Programs

The Way of the Hermit:
A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times

January 22-24, 2021
with Kayleen Asbo, PhD

The Spiral Way:
Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination

Hosted by the Rowe Center
February 1-21, 2021
with Christine Valters Paintner, PhD

Recent Reflections

  • Humility + Join us today for live prayer! ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales 2: Tús maith leath na hoibre – by John Valters Paintner
  • New Book Club for 2021: Lift Every Voice ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales One: Dia dhuit, is mise Hildy! by John Valters Paintner, Your Online Prior
  • Celebrate the Earth Monastery Prayer Cycle podcast with us!

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