



-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts
(photos taken at Golden Gardens in Seattle)




-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts
(photos taken at Golden Gardens in Seattle)

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Anne Barsanti’s reflection on kinship with creation and poem “Ice Storm.” I find myself connected to all that surrounds me – human and

On Imbolc and the Feast of St. Brigid* Spirit of Rebirth,your new life pulses below the rumbling ground.Attune our earsto the renewal taking formbeneath the winter earth,snowdrops and crocusesin white and purple-petaled wonder,hedgehogs and bearsbeginning to stir from sleep. Let Brigid be our guideas we

May 22–29, 2026 and September 4–11, 2026A few places remain Our good friends Nóirín Ní Riain and Owen and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin are once again offering in-person pilgrimages to Ireland. Rooted in music, poetry, story, and sacred landscape, these journeys invite participants into a slower, more attentive
6 Responses
I live in a valley near Mt. Rainier and after all the places I have traveled, our area has some of the most amazing sunsets that I have ever seen.
Here is my favorite sunset picture I took a few years ago down in California. Enjoy.
http://www.morethancake.org/2008/02/sublime-fatherhood.html
thank you! you KNOW i LOVE this!!!! :-)
steadily and with all the honesty our language can barely hope to express ms. oliver invites the joining of our self-centered orbit to a greater one … leading ever so simply yet deftly to ten breathtaking, mirror reflecting words …
“or have you too
gone crazy
for power,
for things?”
this is why i love mary oliver! again and again, hers is a voice innocent and profoundly wise.
thank you for sharing how you see, christine. what you see and how you see it is beautiful. so very beautiful!
Thank you for posting this poem by Mary Oliver and your beautiful photos. Such wonderful inspirations.
Mary explains it so well….” and have you ever felt for anything such wild love “.
Oh, Chrstine. What a wonderful beginning to my day. Fantastic poems…stunning pictures.
You and Mary both ROCK!
Beautiful words and art thank you