I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world. I may not complete this last one but I give myself to it. I circle around God, around the primordial tower. I’ve been circling for thousands of years and I still don’t know: am I a falcon, a storm, or a great song? —Rainer Maria Rilke The mandalas come from various doors and gates in Paris and Vienna.
There is a thread I have been following these last few months while living in Vienna which I haven’t yet shared with you, mostly because of my own amazement and wanting to respect the call without putting too many words and explanations to it. It began in late summer when two different online monk friends sent me images of Our Lady of Czestochowa, one of the Black Madonnas found in Poland. They were drawn to send them, I felt drawn to receive them. My journey to Vienna has much to do with healing my relatinship with my father, and I
The theme for November here at the Abbey is community based on the third principle of the Monk Manifesto: 3. I commit to cultivating community by finding kindred spirits along the path, soul friends with whom I can share my deepest longings, and mentors who can offer guidance and wisdom for the journey. In September I introduced the wonderful work of Marilyn Freeman, a filmmaker in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. and fellow lover of the Benedictine way. One of her art forms is the practice of CinemaDivina. Rooted in the contemplative prayer and listening of lectio divina, CinemaDivina draws on film
Excerpt I am praying again, Awesome One. You hear me again, as words from the depths of me rush toward you in the wind. . . It’s here in all the pieces of my shame that now I find myself again. I yearn to belong to something, to be contained in an all-embracing mind that sees me as a single thing. I yearn to be held in the great hands of your heart — oh let them take me now. Into them I place these fragments, my life, and you, God — spend them however you want. —Rainer Maria Rilke,
. . . Karla Grauberger! You have won a space in my upcoming online retreat – Birthing the Holy: An Online Retreat for Advent with reflections by Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB and myself, and the wonderful art of Mary Southard, CSJ. Make sure to stop by and savor the wondrous poems offered there on the theme of community! Thank you to everyone who participated for making the Abbey such a beautiful community of poets.
Welcome to the Abbey’s 62nd Poetry Party! I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your own poem. Scroll down and add it in the comments section below. Feel free to take your poem in any direction and then post the image and invitation on your blog (if you have one), Facebook, or Twitter, and encourage others to come join the party! (If you repost the photo, please make sure to include the credit link below it and link back to this post inviting others to join us). Each month we have a new
Bard Judith! Judith, contact me to confirm your email address and you will be subscribed to my upcoming online retreat – Birthing the Holy: An Online Retreat for Advent with reflections by Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB and myself, and the wonderful art of Mary Southard, CSJ. Thank you to everyone who participated. Unfortunately I didn’t get to comment on everyone’s image this time, but I did savor each one. I am so grateful for this creative community. Make sure to stop by and savor the beautiful images shared here. I am heading off to Ireland tomorrow for a week, so things
Welcome to the Abbey Photo Party! I select a theme and invite you to respond with images. Our theme here at Abbey of the Arts for November is community, so I invite you to reflect visually on your own spiritual community – whether through kindred souls, the communion of saints and ancestors, or connection to the community of nature. You can share images you already have, but I encourage you also to go for a walk with the theme in mind and see what you discover. How to participate: 1. Go to the Flickr Group I have created (when you
The wonderful folks at Englewood Review of Books have featured a marvelous review of my latest book. Here are some excerpts: Truly, Paintner offers the commentary not of a learned academic—which she undoubted is—but of an amma who herself wants to speak a word to her readers. The result is a book that you will not want to put down and that you will no doubt revisit often for Paintner’s wisdom as much as the mothers’ and fathers’ wisdom. . . Paintner has offered a succinct introduction to and a lively commentary on the desert mothers and fathers. There are
To be a monk today or someone seeking to incorporate monastic values into his or her own life presumes being a part of a community of friends, people with whom a person can share the counsels of the heart and speak a language of the heart to one another. -Edward Sellner, Finding the Monk Within For the month of November, we turn our attention to the principle of community, 3. I commit to cultivating community by finding kindred spirits along the path, soul friends with whom I can share my deepest longings, and mentors who can offer guidance and wisdom
