Reflections

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Melinda Emily’s reflection In Protest. It’s been a difficult year. And not just for me. Too many friends and family have been put through the ringer. Marriages crumbled. People moved. Children got sick. Addictions took over. Dreams were shattered. A mother died. A sister died. A baby died. These are just the personal tragedies I am privy to. To say nothing of the state of the nation, the wars of the world, the thousands displaced, and the too many abused. The world

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Michele Chung‘s reflection The Art of Processing Feedback. While a contemplative life is a personal and solitary journey, we are at the same time intended to live in community.  An important part of this relationship is our dialogue with our friends and family.  The feedback we receive, however, can often be a mixed bag of advice ranging from mere personal opinions to wise counsel. It’s often a confusing and messy process to figure out which advice we should listen to. The

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Kathleen Maci‘s reflection on restful wandering. “I would never have known,” the HR representative confided to me in our meeting about my age of 63. I had been teaching at a university in Beijing, China for a couple of years and had just received the news that I was ineligible to apply for a Z visa allowing me a yearly work and resident permit. Anyone over the age of 60 is now ineligible to apply. Just like that – no job

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Cheryl de Beer’s reflection titled “Contemplatively Living with Questions”. My contemplative nature was awakened when I was 13.  I was blessed to attend Catholic high school where one of our teachers, a nun, taught our class silent prayer. I took to centering prayer and silence like a duck to water, eager to commune with the divine presence hidden within my heart. Through school I was also introduced to the Catholic Eucharist where I learned that the reality of Christ could be