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Aligning with the Season of My Soul (a love note from your online Abbess)

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, I am relishing the slower rhythms of summer, time for unstructured schedules when I can follow my own inclinations, noticing what my body and spirit need in a given moment. I have much work to do on my manuscript to have it ready by August, but what nourishes the writing process for me is allowing time for diversions like making seashell mandalas, writing poems, and going for long walks when things in my mind need a little shaking loose. John and I went on a spontaneous trip out to the island of Inisbofin (Island of the

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June 16, 2014

Clues and Curiosity:
Considering ways to explore archetypal energies
(guest post by Kayce Stevens Hughlett)

I am delighted this fall to be traveling to the Northeast and leading a retreat with one of my favorite people and dear friends, Kayce Stevens Hughlett, on the archetypes and expressive arts. There are only two spaces left, so if you would like to join us in Reading, PA October 1-5, 2015 click here for more details. Kayce has generously offered us some of her wisdom on clues and curiosity as the trails we follow: “All you get on your life way are little clues.” Joseph Campbell I’ve been on a bit of a writing sabbatical this summer. It wasn’t

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June 13, 2014

Monk in the World Guest Post: Courtney Pinkerton

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Courntey Pinkerton’s reflections on the practices which nourish her path as a monk in the world, including the wisdom of the Enneagram: I used to be quite happy in the righteous do-gooder camp. Fresh out of college working with homeless women and children or later in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua, I was comfortable dividing up the world. There were the social activists and the complacent ones. Those awake to the deep and juicy registers of life and the other people,

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June 12, 2014

Stopping by the Holy Well (a love note from your online Abbess)

To receive this love note straight to your in-box, subscribe here (and also receive a gift!) Stopping by the Holy Well Gentian blue sky, dandelion seed clouds play hide and seek with the sun. The long walk on the pilgrim road, across blooming limestone to this flowing fissure. Brightly colored ribbons hang like old party streamers from branches, banners of longing: a prayer for healing the great divide of the heart, or a beloved consumed by cancer. Or simply an echo of the psalmist’s ancient cry, “How long, O God?” into the vast and thunderous silence. No pronouncements in reply, no choruses of

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June 9, 2014

Monk in the World guest post: Robert Rife

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Robert Rife’s wisdom on finding the sacred in the most ordinary moments: I-You-Holy Ground By Robert Alan Rife I am the dusty ground, low and dry thirsty for the imprint of holy feet. Despoil with radiant prints, this virgin ground. You are the rain, falling deftly upon my brown soil. Now is left your footprint on this ground. I am the ashen leaves, curling and broken awaiting but a whisper. For only then can I fall on solid ground. You are the soundless wind,

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June 5, 2014

Rants of a 21st-century Psalmist (guest post by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan)

This week Richard Bruxvoort Colligan is sharing a guest post of his love of the psalms. Make sure to join him this summer at the Abbey (along with John Valters Paintner, Ronna Detrick, and Roy DeLeon) for an exploration of the scriptures and the questions to which they call us. Exile and Coming Home: An Archetypal Journey through the Scriptures is a six-week online class which begins June 16th! Rants of a 21st-century Psalmist or What the Psalms Do To Us My artist friend Erika looked at my scrunched-up face from her sofa and said, “Is there any reason you couldn’t call yourself… a Psalmist?”

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June 1, 2014

Call for Submissions: Monk in the World guest post series

We welcome you to submit your reflection for possible publication in our Monk in the World guest post series. It is a gift to read how ordinary people are living lives of depth and meaning in the midst of the challenges of real life. This summer the Abbey is taking a break from this series but will return in the fall again. There are so many talented writers and artists in this Abbey community, so this is a chance to share your perspective. The reflection will be included in our weekly newsletter which goes out to more than 8000 subscribers. Please follow these instructions carefully: Details:

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May 30, 2014

Community & Solitude (a love note from your online Abbess)

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, John and I just completed another pilgrimage here in Ireland with a beautiful group of pilgrims. We are continually amazed and humbled at the deeply soulful and wise folks that join us for our programs. Dancing monks are the most wonderful folks there are. Dwelling in these holy places where countless have prayed for thousands of years is an experience of connection to the community of monks across time. We step into thin time and place together, where the veil between the sacred and ordinary becomes sheer, the division is no longer clear. Again, my heart came alive in

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May 30, 2014

Monk in the World guest post: Martha Jane Petersen

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Martha Jane Petersen’s wisdom on quilting as contemplative prayer: At age 65, I encountered a major turn in my life’s road. I slowly heeded a Divine call to become an artist. My hesitations gripped me long and hard. At this stage of life? I exclaimed. And what do I do about my writing, and being a minister?  Whenever I found myself enmeshed in art – among artists, or at galleries, or in my own art making – my energy revved up, excitement mounted, and joy flooded

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May 29, 2014

What I know for sure (guest post from Ronna Detrick)

This week Ronna Detrick is sharing a guest post of her love of scripture stories about women. Make sure to join her this summer at the Abbey (along with John Valters Paintner, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, and Roy DeLeon) for an exploration of the scriptures and the questions to which they call us. Exile and Coming Home: An Archetypal Journey through the Scriptures is a six-week online class which begins June 16th! What I know for sure: When I read the ancient, sacred stories of women I am ever-finding intimate, generous, wise companions who come alongside to strengthen me; who make sense of the

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May 26, 2014