Abbey of the Arts » Fun

Winner of Simplifying the Soul

Christine — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:31:52 +0000

Thanks to everyone who left a comment earlier this week at my review of Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit. This winner of the random drawing for a free copy is Annie! Congratulations and I will send that off to you.

Poetry Party Winner

Christine — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:40:46 +0000

This week's Poetry Party was another sublime gathering of poetic words and images. A deep bow of gratitude to everyone who participated. I feel like the luckiest Abbess in the world to have such a generous and creative community. If you haven't yet stopped by, do make sure to, and linger over these stunning images. See if your own images of winter transform in the process.

The lucky winner of a free registration spot in my upcoming online art retreat for the season of Lent – Soul of a Pilgrim (February 22-April 7, 2012) is Shannon with her poem "Oh the way the snow speaks. . ." Shannon, email me and send me your email and I will get you registered.

Thank you again to everyone, I will make sure to not wait quite so long for our next poetic gathering.

Give Me a Word – prize drawing winners

Christine — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 18:00:52 +0000

A deep bow of gratitude from your online Abbess to each of you who participated in this year's Give Me a Word invitation! We had about 430 submissions and reading each one was inspiring and delightful. Thank you to everyone who helped spread the word about this as well.

I created a word cloud through the website Tagxedo – click this link to see a larger version where you can move your cursor over the smaller words and enlarge them. Because of the large number of words, many of them appear quite small, but I love the image of them as small seeds growing into their own magnificence. If you want to print out different sizes you can click here.

And now for the fun of drawing names at random for our slew of wonderful prizes. . . and the winners are . . .

Deb Swingholm at Flowering Moon with her word "Intitiate" wins a space in the upcoming Lenten online art retreat Soul of a Pilgrim (starting February 22 through April 7, 2012)

MaryBeth Butler ("Window"), Joye ("Behold"), and Lisa Morand DeCesaris ("Immersed) each get to choose from one of the Abbey's on-demand courses - Water, Wind, Earth, & Fire: Praying with the Elements; Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Contemplative Practice; or Lectio Divina: The Sacred Art of Reading the World.

Sally ("Now"), Kathleen Dowd-Gailey ("Intention"), and Amber Andreasen ("Advent") each get to choose one of my books or art journals including The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom, Lectio Divina–The Sacred Arts: Transforming Words and Images into Heart-Centered Prayer, and Water, Wind, Earth and Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements.

Catherine Mary ("Nourish") receives a copy of Kayce Stevens Hughlett's new book of daily reflection – As I Lay Pondering: Daily Invitations to Live a Transformed Life (a fabulous new book of daily meditations and practices)

Laura ("One") receives a copy of Betsey Beckman's newest storydance video – Woman at the Well (a powerful video of Betsey dancing this powerful biblical story)

You can each contact me at Christine@AbbeyoftheArts.com to receive your prize. If you prefer to give them as a gift to a friend, let me know and we can arrange that!

May the word that has chosen you for this year challenge you, nourish you, and break open the newness in your heart.

The winner of last week's Poetry Party random drawing is. . .

Christine — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:19:38 +0000

. . . Rachel Diem! Rachel, you get a choice between a signed copy of The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom or Lectio Divina–The Sacred Arts: Transforming Words and Images into Heart-Centered Prayer. Just email me and let me know your choice!

Last week's Poetry Party was again a sublime experience of shared vision and expression. If you haven't yet stopped by to read the marvelous gathering of poems I encourage you to linger for a while.

Poetry Party Winner

Christine — Sat, 28 May 2011 03:24:00 +0000

The winner of this week's Poetry Party on inner wisdom is Joanna Paterson. Joanna, send me a note about which prize you would like (you can also give it as a gift).

Thank you to everyone who participated. As always a magical and marvelous gathering of poetry!

Poetry Party Winner

Christine — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 18:36:49 +0000

Thank you to everyone who participated in this week's Poetry Party. It was an absolute delight to savor the poems shared there. The winner of the random drawing for a copy of Sacred Poetry: An Invitation to Write is Laurie Basile. Happy Spring!

Poetry Party Winner

Christine — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:18:07 +0000

Thank you to everyone for your marvelous poems at this week's Poetry Party. I love that the Abbey can be a gathering space for creativity to flourish. Stop by to linger, read, and savor such exquisiteness.

The winner of this week's random drawing for a free registration in Lenten Online Retreat: Journey with the Desert Mothers & Fathers in Claire at A Seat at the Table.

The photo to the right was also from my time in Vienna - more of the lions who were pawing at my imagination and calling me to fierceness.

Sabbath blessings dear friends!

Happy Anniversary My Beloved

Christine — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:59:28 +0000

Love Sonnet XVII

I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that doesn't bloom and carries
hidden within itself the light of those flowers,
and thanks to your love, darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving

but this, in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

-Pablo Neruda

Thank you Beloved for sixteen beautiful married years of intimacy and discovery.

this week's winner is . . .

Christine — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:48:19 +0000

. . . 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 space.

I hope you will stop by this week's Poetry Party in the next few days, pour yourself a cup of tea (what's your favorite? these days mine is Yogi Tea's India Spice with a touch of sweet and cream), and savor the poetic beauty found there. If you are already feeling your Lenten energy sag these poems will enliven you again, if you are experiencing your very own transformative Lent, these poems will celebrate the depth and power of that journey with you.

There are also some beautiful offerings at my post this week about the Theoblogger Challenge to write about God in 100 Words or Less. Stop by there to bask in the sacred beauty and to pen your own words and leave them (or a link) in the comments.

Blessings on the weekend ahead. Come back Monday for more reflections.

Poetry Party Random Drawing Winner

Christine — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:42:01 +0000

We had a smaller – but no less lovely – gathering for this week's Poetry Party. Make sure to stop by and read the jewels offered there. The winner of the random drawing this week for a copy of Sacred Poetry: An Invitation to Write is Sharon – email me with your snail mail and I will send that out to you.

Blessings on your weekend, I will return on Monday with more reflections here at the Abbey.