Your Online Monastery for Your Spiritual Practice

Week 2 Advent Practices: Following the Fire

This is a weekly Advent series by Christine from the Abbey archives. If praying with the four elements kindles a spark in you, consider my book Water, Wind, Earth, & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements. Every being is praising God The fire has its flame and praises God. The wind blows the flame and praises God. In the voice we hear the word which praises God. And the word, when heard, praises God. So all of creation is a song of praise to God. —Hildegard of Bingen In the first week of our Advent series we focused on the

December 9, 2014

Invitation to Lectio Divina: Thomas Merton on Silence

With December we offer a new invitation for contemplation. We are returning to a monthly focus on our Monk Manifesto themes. Our focus for this month is Silence. The month of December can be busy and full of noise. And so it is all the more important to take special care to cultivate true silence. I invite you into a lectio divina practice with some words from Thomas Merton’s Thoughts in Solitude. How Community Lectio Divina works: Each month there will be a passage selected from scripture, poetry, or other sacred texts (and occasionally visio and audio divina as well with art and music). How amazing it would be to discern together the

December 7, 2014

Monk in the World guest post: Alicia Dykstra

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Alicia Dykstra’s wisdom on the gifts of being a “grazer”: Grazing People often say you are what you eat. I never took that too literally, but at one point it occurred to me that the saying is true at many different levels. As a monk in the world we are called to pay attention, so I thought this all through some more and tried to figure out what God was trying to tell me. I love to graze and nibble snacks

December 4, 2014

Week 1 Advent Practices: Breathing Deeply

This is a weekly Advent series by Christine from the Abbey archives. If praying the with the four elements kindles a spark in you, consider my book Water, Wind, Earth, & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements. As we enter these four weeks of Advent, we cross into a holy time when the scriptures are filled with images of expectancy as we await the coming of a God who enters into the heart of this world. I invite you during these next four weeks to embrace this season as a time to tend to your relationship to creation. As we

December 3, 2014

Word for December: Silence

It is in the silence that my hope is, and my aim. A song whose lines I cannot make or sing sounds men’s silence like a root. Let me say and not mourn: the world lives in the death of speech and sings there. —Wendell Berry, excerpted from “The Silence” Advent blessings my dear dancing monks! As we begin this holy season I wanted to invite you into the deep stillness of the heart which is the real gift of this time ahead. Two years ago we had a photography party on the theme of “silence” and I created this

November 30, 2014

Ways to Support Abbey of the Arts

1. Tell your friends, share the love! We do very little advertising, most of our growth happens through word of mouth which is the best kind there is. Share this newsletter, share on FB, “like” our articles and like our Facebook page. 2. Make a donation to support our Earth Monastery Project and Scholarship Fund (to assist those who otherwise could not participate in programs) 3. Give the gift of an online class to a friend. Any class can be gifted. Email us to find out more. 4. If you are shopping through Amazon.com, please consider using this link which provides us with a small percentage of your purchase price without any extra

November 26, 2014

Dancing with Monks and Mystics (guest post from Betsey Beckman)

For the last several months, we have been embarking on an exciting creative project and collaboration. It started with choosing 12 dancing monks to be a part of the original Dancing Monk Icon series painted by Marcy Hall. These icons were meant to depict some beloved monks and mystics in a joyful and colorful way, reminding us of our call to dance through this life. We had the inspiration to feature a dancing monk for each week of our Advent/Christmas and Epiphany/New Year’s online retreats. My dear friend and collaborator Betsey Beckman was inspired to have songs created for each dancing monk

November 25, 2014

Invitation to Dance: Honoring Saints & Ancestors

We continue our theme this month of “Honoring Saints & Ancestors: which arose from our Community Lectio Divina practice with the letter to the Hebrews and continued with this month’s Photo Party and Poetry Party. I invite you into a movement practice. Allow yourself just 5 minutes this day to pause and listen and savor what arises. Begin with a full minute of slow and deep breathing. Let your breath bring your awareness down into your body. When thoughts come up, just let them go and return to your breath. Hold this image of our “Saints & Ancestors” as the gentlest of intentions, planting a seed as you prepare

November 23, 2014

Monk in the World guest post: Alexander Gilchrist

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Alexander Gilchrist’s wisdom about finding contemplative moments on the commuter train: As much as we complain about the service, the trains generally run on time. That means the express train to New York’s Grand Central Terminal is going to be pulling into my station around 6:21 a.m. and pulling out at 6:23 a.m. – whether I’m on it or not. That dependability has sometimes forced me to sprint through the parking lot like a 50-plus year old schoolboy in order to

November 20, 2014

Monks, Mystics, Archetypes and SoulCollage® (guest post from Kayce Stevens Hughlett)

For the last several months, we have been embarking on an exciting creative project and collaboration. It started with choosing 12 dancing monks to be a part of the original Dancing Monk Icon series painted by Marcy Hall. These icons were meant to depict some beloved monks and mystics in a joyful and colorful way, reminding us of our call to dance through this life. We had the inspiration to feature a dancing monk for each week of our Advent/Christmas and Epiphany/New Year’s online retreats. My wonderful teaching partner Kayce Hughlett, is a trained SoulCollage® facilitator and will be offering this gift

November 17, 2014

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Reflections

Filter

Week 2 Advent Practices: Following the Fire

Invitation to Lectio Divina: Thomas Merton on Silence

Monk in the World guest post: Alicia Dykstra

Week 1 Advent Practices: Breathing Deeply

Word for December: Silence

Ways to Support Abbey of the Arts

Dancing with Monks and Mystics (guest post from Betsey Beckman)

Invitation to Dance: Honoring Saints & Ancestors

Monk in the World guest post: Alexander Gilchrist

Monks, Mystics, Archetypes and SoulCollage® (guest post from Kayce Stevens Hughlett)

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Recent Reflections

A Blessing for Creativity + Sabbatical Announcement

Monk in the World Guest Post: Teresa Calpino

Monk in the World Guest Post: Anne Marie Cribbin

Brother Lawrence and the Practice of the Presence + Prayer Cycle Day 6 ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

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