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New Review of Lectio Divina — The Transforming Art

As with The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom, reviewed on StoryCircleBookReviews, I savoured Christine Valters Paintner’s Lectio Divina as my morning reading practice. Lectio divina essentially means “divine reading” of sacred texts, during which we “enter into an encounter with God.” While the ancient practice has its roots in Judaism, Valters Paintner refers to the scriptures of different religious traditions, including Hebrew, Christian and the Qur’an, throughout the book. There are many passages from which to choose for your own practice. Paintner invites an exploration of lectio divina in Part One of the book. “Listen with

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February 9, 2012

Welcoming in Tenderness

Last fall I participated in a two-week yoga teacher training retreat through the Samarya Center, a wonderful non-profit yoga studio here in Seattle that is committed to making yoga accessible to everyone.  In addition to their regular offering of classes to the general public, they also offer yoga to those in hospice, to veterans, to those suffering with addiction, and many others. Yoga is not just a physical practice at Samarya, the whole rich tradition of yoga philosophy is woven into everthing they do. I have been practicing yoga for about 15 years and while I have long felt drawn

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February 5, 2012

The Sacred Art of Living

My latest article at Patheos: I was sitting in St. Ephrem, a small Orthodox stone church near the Sorbonne in Paris, listening to the sublime solo suites for cello by Johann Sebastian Bach.  The young man playing did not have sheet music, he knew this entire piece by heart.  His eyes were closed as he stretched the bow back and forth in a kind of dance, his whole body was alert and engaged in this act of offering to the gathered crowd. I was struck there in the middle of the piece by the awareness that he had spent likely

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February 4, 2012

Stirring in the Belly: Listening for New Life

I am reposting my Seasons of the Soul column for Patheos from last year to honor this sacred day: The most important events make no stir on their first taking place, nor indeed in their effects directly. They seem hedged about by secrecy. It is concussion, or the rushing together of air to fill a vacuum, which makes a noise. The great events to which all things consent, and for which they have prepared the way, produce no explosion, for they are gradual, and create no vacuum which requires to be suddenly filled; as a birth takes place in silence, and

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February 1, 2012

THE MONASTERY retreats

I am posting this information to support the Sisters who lead these retreats.  I am not personally involved in the programs, so if you have questions, please visit their website and contact them directly: Deep in Iowa farming country, stands Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey. Abiding by the centuries-old Rule of St. Benedict, this contemplative community of Cistercian nuns has left behind the clamor of the 21st century for a cloistered life of prayer based on the monastic values of silence, obedience and humility. But in 2006 the Sisters allowed television cameras inside their abbey along with five women

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January 25, 2012

More praise for The Artist’s Rule (from Benedictines to Baptists)

The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration publish a bi-monthly journal called Spirit and Life.  In the January/February 2012 issue they had this to say about  The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom: This author’s work is firmly rooted in Benedictine spirituality, making special note of the “ladder of humility” and Lectio Divina. Moving through the twelve weeks of experimentation with deepening artistic experiences, readers are guided into deeper and broader insights into many aspects of their work and life. They may find that the contemplative aspect of their lives, too, is blossoming. Rather than stressing “how to,” Paintner gives

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January 19, 2012

Visual Meditation: Winter Stillness and Delight

Seattle had another snowstorm today.  These images are from the one we enjoyed on Sunday.  Lots of play and frolicking happening here at the Abbey today.  And our dog Winter loves to play in the snow, who would have guessed?

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January 18, 2012

Abbey Bookshelf – Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit

*Leave a comment on this post in the comment section below and enter a random drawing for a free copy of Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit* I am a big fan of Paula Huston’s work.  Her book The Holy Way: Practices for a Simple Life is one of my favorites and I attended a writing workshop with her a few years ago through the Image Journal in Santa Fe.  She is a generous teacher and writer and when I received her newest book for the season of Lent for the Patheos book club, my heart felt

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January 17, 2012

Lectio Divina as a Life Practice

Lynda Chalmers is offering 40 days of contemplative practices at her blog and invited me to reflect on lectio divina: When I first was introduced to the practice of lectio divina many years ago I felt an opening inside of me, as if I was being met right where I was. I discovered in this ancient way of praying a mirror of my own inner movements and longing for contemplative depth. I felt supported in a way of savoring life and listening deeply for the voice of Spirit moving through sacred texts and the world. Lectio divina has four movements

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January 16, 2012

Make sure to visit this week’s Poetry Party!

Such aching beauty in the offerings at this week’s Poetry Party.  Have you stopped by yet?  Pour a cup of tea and then linger with the amazing poems gathered there.  Then write your own response to the theme or image and share it with the Abbey community.  If you share it before Sunday, you could win a space in my upcoming online art retreat for the season of Lent – Soul of a Pilgrim (February 22-April 7, 2012).

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January 13, 2012