Visit the Abbey of the Arts online retreat platform to access your programs:

Login Here

Reflections

Filter

Invitation to Photography: Softening and Yielding

Welcome to this month’s Abbey Photo Party! I select a theme and invite you to respond with images. We began this month with a Community Lectio Divina practice (stop by to read the beautiful responses).  As I prayed with the poem by Yehuda Amichai, this phrase kept shimmering for me:  But doubts and loves / Dig up the world. These last few months I have been called more deeply into a journey of softening and yielding, of discovering the profound grace that comes with embracing my own earthiness and the layers beneath all of the armoring I have in my body, my

Read More
October 13, 2013

Monk Manifesto 8th Principle Added! (a love note from your online Abbess)

NEW 8th principle of the Monk Manifesto: *I commit to being a dancing monk, cultivating creative joy and letting my body and “heart overflow with the inexpressible delights of love.”* Dearest monks and artists, The 7th principle of the Monk Manifesto states: “I commit to a lifetime of ongoing conversion and transformation, recognizing that I am always on a journey with both gifts and limitations.” For me, this means, that everything is in process, everything is open to change, especially my own heart and understanding.  So it feels right and true that I would discover a longing to add another principle to

Read More
October 9, 2013

Monk in the World guest post: Lacy Clark Ellman

I first met Lacy when she attended our Awakening the Creative Spirit intensive and then later participated in my Sacred Rhythms Writing Retreat.  Lacy was finishing graduate school and launched into her passion which is pilgrimage.  She has a wonderful website with great articles and guest posts on one of my own favorite topics.  Read on for her reflections on being a monk in the world: Not too long ago, I moved from Missouri to Southern California. The desert landscape that would accompany us on our drive here gave me the chance to contemplate what it is like for monks to

Read More
October 7, 2013

Community Lectio Divina: The Place We Are Right by Yehuda Amichai

With October comes a new invitation for contemplation. This month I invite you into a lectio divina practice with a poem by Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. Wisdom Council member Cheryl Macpherson (who co-facilitates our Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist class) suggested it, and I was delighted because it is one of my favorites. I think it expresses beautifully the monastic path of humility, the root of which is humus, meaning of the earth. During this autumn season (for our northern hemisphere folks) we are reminded of all that is earthy, of the cycle of life and death,

Read More
October 6, 2013

Monk Badges: Share your commitment!

After many requests, I had my delightful web person create some badges for you to post on your blogs and Facebook pages, as a reminder of your commitment as a monk in the world and dancing monk, and a way to share that commitment with others. Three different options are below along with the code you can use to post the image (you can also right-click to save the image to your hard drive and then post it that way). The first badge links to the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks page and the second and third link to the Monk

Read More
October 3, 2013

Monk in the World guest post: Claire Bangasser

Our next post in the Monk in the World series is from Claire Bangasser, whom I have known for several years now in the virtual world of writing on faith and spirituality. She makes regular pilgrimages on the Compostelle and the subtitle of her blog is “I re-imagine a Church engaged in dialogue with people at the margins,” a wonderful mission indeed.  She writes about justice and peace, women’s spirituality, and here shares about returning to her roots to encounter Godde*: A Spiritual Being Having a Human Experience “Not all are called to be artists in the specific sense of the

Read More
September 30, 2013

An opportunity to pause and savor

At the Abbey this fall we have weekly invitations to lectio divina, photography, poetry, and dance on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sundays respectively.  With a 5th Sunday this month, I am inviting you to allow this week to be a chance to revisit some of the previous invitations and savor what has been shared there, as well as your own unfolding response to the “Call to Newness” we have been exploring. Consider stopping by these posts and see what newness is stirred: Community Lectio Divina Isaiah 42:6-10 Invitation to Photography: Call to Newness Invitation to Poetry: Call to Newness

Read More
September 29, 2013

Invite Wonder (a love note from your online Abbess)

To receive this love note straight to your in-box, subscribe here (and also receive a free gift!) Invite Wonder What if you bowed before every dandelion you met and wrote love letters to squirrels and pigeons who crossed your path? What if scrubbing the dishes became an act of single reverence for the gift of being washed clean, and what if the rhythmic percussion of chopping carrots became the drumbeat of your dance? What if you stepped into the shower each morning only to be baptized anew and sent forth to serve the grocery bagger, the bank teller, and the bus

Read More
September 25, 2013

Monk in the World guest post: Claudia Mair

This week’s Monk in the World reflection come from Claudia Mair who blogs at Ragamuffin Diva and is the author of God Alone is Enough: A Spirited Journey with Teresa of Avila (as well as many novels including the Amanda Bell Brown Mystery Series). I’ve been online friends with Claudia for several years and always am moved by the honesty of her writing. She has the heart of a monk: willing to embrace humility and speak truth. If the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, mine has fallen into disrepair, which is why I surprised myself when I decided to

Read More
September 23, 2013

Invitation to Dance: Call to Newness

This autumn at the Abbey, we are adding two new features to our regular contemplative and creative invitations to the community. First was the lectio divina practice (this month with Isaiah 42:6-10) and this week we introduce an Invitation to Dance (seems appropriate for a Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks!) Our theme this month (emerging from the scripture text) is “Call to Newness.” Make sure to stop by this month’s Photo Party and Poetry Party on the theme as well, you can continue to post your poems and images there. Dance is about being willing to awaken and show up fully to life

Read More
September 22, 2013

Upcoming Programs

Cultivating Seeds of Liberation – Prayer Cycle Launch and 20th anniversary celebration!
Cultivating Seeds of Liberation – Prayer Cycle Launch and 20th anniversary celebration!
2 May 25
Contemplative Prayer Service: Creative Joy
Contemplative Prayer Service: Creative Joy
5 May 25
Writing on the Wild Edges: St. Brendan’s Voyage as Creative Guide
Writing on the Wild Edges: St. Brendan’s Voyage as Creative Guide
12 May 25

Recent Reflections

Connect with Us

Envelope Facebook Instagram
Join the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks
Join Our Newsletter
Donate to Support Our Ministry
Search
Consent Preferences
© 2025 Abbey of the Arts. All rights reserved.