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Monk in the World Guest Post: Naomi Kelly

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Rev. Naomi Kelly’s reflection on finding God’s grace in the non-anxious practice of visio divina. Most mornings, when I get up to walk the dog, I take my smartphone with me, keeping the camera poised to snap pictures. What a blessing to have been exposed to the idea of visio divina from Christine and Abbey of the Arts. Everything we pass—trees, rocks, creatures—offers a feeling, a whisper, a message from the Divine.  It’s so much as looking for God to

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Dorothy Day and the Archetype of the Orphan – join us tomorrow! ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, Dorothy Day, the 20th century founder of the Catholic Worker movement and a Benedictine oblate, was very much committed to those who were “outcasts” and on the fringes of society.  She loved the widow and the orphan. She was passionate about the corporal works of mercy: feeding the hungry, sheltering those without homes, providing clothes for the naked. She was always trying to see Christ in “the poor lost ones, the abandoned ones, the sick, the crazed, the solitary human beings whom Christ so loved, in whom I see, with a terrible anguish, the body

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Lughnasa and the Harvest of Our Lives ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, Lughnasa (pronounced Loo-nassah) is one of the ancient Celtic feasts celebrated on August 1st marking the time of the beginning of the harvest and the gathering in. It is said to honor the Celtic sun-god Lugh who was an ally to the farmer in the struggle for food. With the Summer Solstice six weeks before, you can start to really feel the shortening of the days in August in Ireland. There is a subtle shift in the light and the air that leans towards autumn’s crispness and cooler days.  The energy in the world is

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Earth Monastery Project ~ Litany for the Wayside

I am pleased to share another beautiful project created with the Earth Monastery Grant. Read on for Philip Wood’s Litany for the Wayside.  Description Litany for the Wayside is a liturgical and poetic sequence with visual and musical responses.  It is rooted in a shared practice of attentive walking.  The primary vehicle of the Litany is journeying and the main location is the road, but elements of the sequence (poems, prayers, reflection, art and music) may stand alone or combine with others, whether in recital, protest, performance, exhibition or lament. The Journey So Far This Litany for the Wayside has

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Earth Monastery Project ~ The Girl with a Gift

I am pleased to share another one of the beautiful projects created with the Earth Monastery Grant. Read on to learn about Monica McDowell, MDiv’s The Girl with a Gift “Mustard Seed” Project. The Girl with a Gift project was a creative and contemplative project used as “mustard seed” to multiply “earth as our monastery” awareness. The creative aspect of my project was my book, The Girl with a Gift, an eco-fiction, coming-of-age novel appropriate for ages 13 and up. It features climate change, spirituality, and earth care as background and foreground in the plot. The contemplative aspect of my project

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Dianne Morris Jones 

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Dianne Morris Jones’ reflection titled “They Ruined Our Trail. . . .” There are so many things fundamentally wrong with that statement!  However, it WAS the statement traipsing through our minds as Roger and I recently slipped and slid our way through the muddy “new” terrain of a favorite hiking trail. We’ve hiked this trail often—through the icy cold of winter, watching the deer explore the frozen pond; through the budding beauty of spring, listening to the symphony of birds;

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Canine Horarium: Praying the Hours with My Dog ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, During July we are sharing some reflections from the Abbey Archives (and in August we will be taking a break from our daily and weekly newsletters for a summer sabbatical): As a Benedictine oblate, I am committed to living as a monk in the world. For me, this means living contemplatively, savoring experience rather than rushing through it to the next thing, focusing on simplicity rather than consumption, and cultivating spaciousness rather than filling my days with endless activities. The natural world is my monk’s cell, the place where I go to receive wisdom and

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Earth Monastery Project ~ Sandi Howell

I am pleased to share another beautiful project created with the Earth Monastery Grant. Read on for Sandi Howell’s art project, Intersections – Co-creation, Co-habitation. “Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” ~ Albert Einstein Background – Project Goal and Objectives The goal of this project was to raise awareness in a viewer/reader of the intersection of humans and nature, and about a potential of collaboration versus dominance.  As the artist, I wanted to create a moment by using visual art and stories to have viewers/readers

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Earth Monastery Project ~ Salal + Cedar Curriculum Boxes

I am pleased to share one of the beautiful projects created with the Earth Monastery Grant. Read on to learn how Salal + Cedar piloted a program to bring scripture and the elements of the natural word to nurture children’s sense of wonder in God’s creation. What did they do? Salal + Cedar Watershed Discipleship Ministry used their Earth Monastery grant to produce and pilot three curriculum boxes—portable, self-contained lesson material–for multi-age groups. The project was designed to bring together scripture and elements of the natural world from the lower Fraser watershed to nurture children’s sense of wonder in God’s creation.

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Continuing Education Program and 2017 Ireland Pilgrimages | *Updates*

Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts November 13-18, 2016 with Kayce Stevens Hughlett, MA & Betsey Beckman MM in the Pacific Northwest Space has opened up in this program. Click here for more details>> May 2-7, 2017 with Christine Valters Paintner, PhD & Betsey Beckman, MM in Perth Scotland This program is starting to fill already! Click here for more details>> This five-day intensive immerses you in an experience of the bringing the transformative power of the expressive arts to spiritual settings. Join a small group of kindred souls to dive deep together

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