Reflections

Word for Today: Stranger [Benedict’s Rule calls me] to welcome in every stranger who comes to the door as the face of the divine…. At its core, it means that everything that seems strange, foreign, or uncomfortable is the place where God especially shimmers forth. —Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: While it is relatively easy to see how this deep hospitality applies to strangers, can you see how it equally applies to an inner kind of hospitality, when we extend a welcome to the full spectrum of emotions, beliefs and thoughts which

Word for Today: Communion of Saints There might be wild beasts to encounter: the fierce ones in your own heart. But there are also powers there to help support and guide you. Remember that the threshold is full of shimmering presence. —Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: Is there an ancestor, or spiritual saint or guide, you could call upon for assistance in times of trouble? Who do you sense from the great “cloud of witnesses” and “communion of saints” traveling alongside you, offering their wisdom through the veil? Next

Word for Today: Wholeness Our life impulse calls us into community with ourselves, with others, and with the divine…. We are grounded in our wholeness and make choices from this place. —Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: In what way does your life impulse call you to continue the difficult yet soulful journey you have begun?     Next steps: Let the word, quote, and question inspire your creative practice (Download the list of daily words here.) Use the hashtag  #soulofapilgrim when sharing on social media. Join the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks Facebook group to share

Word for Today: Life We have a life impulse and a death impulse. Each choice allows us to move toward the things which bring us life. If we don’t choose the path of growth, we can move toward that which drains us of life. — Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: What brings you to life? What drains you of life?     Next steps: Let the word, quote, and question inspire your creative practice (Download the list of daily words here.) Use the hashtag  #soulofapilgrim when sharing on social media. Join the Holy Disorder of Dancing

Word for Today: New Roads Pilgrimage often draws us to unfamiliar places. When we go on the inner journey we might be especially attentive to seeking out new roads and pathways, unfamiliar routes rather than the usual way we travel. — Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: What different route might you take on your inward pilgrimage to help challenge some of the routines, beliefs and stories which keep you stuck? Next steps: Let the word, quote, and question inspire your creative practice (Download the list of daily words here.) Use the hashtag  #soulofapilgrim when sharing

Word for Today: Beginnings Pilgrimage is a place of new beginnings. No matter how far I stray from my practice, there is always an invitation to begin again. Not just each day, but each moment offers us the chance to lay a new foundation. — Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: Can you simply notice when acedia starts talking, telling you that you are too busy, that stillness isn’t possible for you, and then start again? Next steps: Let the word, quote, and question inspire your creative practice (Download the list of daily

Word for Today: Anchor While on pilgrimage, time for silence is essential. I need this anchor, this connection to Source, to remember everything that I am and to not add up the sum of my parts. In the silence, I remember that my life is not wholly good or bad here. The discomfort and the exhilaration are both essential to my experience. — Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within Reflective Question: Can you allow yourself the time to learn how to deal with the ambiguities and the contradictions in your experience, knowing that on