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Featured Review of Lectio Divina at Englewood Review of Books

Chris Smith at the Englewood Review of Books has featured Lectio Divina–The Sacred Art: Transforming Words & Images into Heart-Centered Prayer this month!  I am very honored by his review, here is an excerpt: What distinguishes Paintner’s work from a host of other recent books on lectio divina is its focus on beauty.  Paintner is an artist and has reflected at length on the role of the arts in spiritual formation (for instance in her book Awakening the Creative Spirit, co-written with Betsey Beckman, which we reviewed here).  Part of what is lost in the ever-increasing pace of Western culture,

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November 19, 2011

Artistic Advent Enrichment (lovely new review of The Artist’s Rule)

Kristin Berkey-Abbot at Liberation Theology Lutheran has a great post suggesting The Artist’s Rule as a creative companion through the season of Advent (and I agree, it is a brilliant idea): If you’re looking for a disciplined approach and a guide to walk you through each practice and to help you make the connections between spirituality and art, allow me to recommend Christine Valters Paintner’s latest book, The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom. Much like Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, Paintner’s book is set up as a 12 week intensive immersion into techniques and practices that

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November 15, 2011

Go in peace, you are loved

Go in peace, you are loved, you are loved Go in peace, you are loved Go with God, you are loved, you are loved Go with God, you are loved The God who wove you in the dark the one whose rough hands made your heart had you in mind before the dawn of time The one who gazed with gentle eyes at all the colors of your life– Before the threads were dyed, the artist saw your life (chorus) Back at the house you started from your God has left the porch light on however late the hour, you’ll

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November 13, 2011

Creative Source

The lovely and wise Claire at A Seat at the Table has a beautiful post at her blog about embarking on a journey with my latest book The Artist’s Rule as her companion. Each of us uses a bit or a lot of that Creativity which comes from the same Source. Each one of us is a facet of that Creative Source. Beautifully, in it, we are One. Click here to read more>>

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November 11, 2011

Streams of Contentment

This month at the Patheos Book Club they are featuring Robert Wicks’ new book Streams of Contentment. I was invited to write a post in response to the theme of the book and participate in a conversation abotu contentment. Wicks’ book offers us an array of stories to illuminate this journey toward living a life of deeper contentment, of more simplicity and clarity about what brings us satisfaction, of remembering gratitude as a foundational practice. I have learned a lot about contentment from my yoga practice. In Sanskrit the word for contentment is santosha which asks us to accept the current state

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November 2, 2011

A Midwinter God

I love the bare branches of winter trees spread across the muted sky. Those aching arms that have been stripped of encumbrance to reveal the bones. When autumn comes I am dizzy with delight at the release of fluttering jeweled prayer flags settling to the ground to become the compost for next spring’s flowers. There is an excitement I experience at the change of each day’s landscape, a parade of colors, always something new revealed. It can be easy to forget that this is also the heart of dying. Then winter arrives and brings with it an often profound stillness.

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November 2, 2011

Midwinter God – SCI online class general registration now open!

Soul Care Institute online learning: January 9-February 19, 2012 Register now for A Midwinter God: Making a Conscious Underworld Journey (click the link for more details) Open to all soul care practitioners (spiritual directors, chaplains, counselors, pastors, etc). In a dark time, the eye begins to see. —Theodore Roethke Wisdom comes with winter. —Oscar Wilde Our western culture denies the reality of difficult feelings, demonizes the experience of darkness, and rejects the invitation of winter to move into a place of unknowing and mystery. Our religious institutions don’t leave any room for the experience of doubt and despair. Certainty, planning,

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November 1, 2011

Free Book Winners

Announcing the winners of the random drawings for free signed copies of books by the guest teachers in the Advent online retreat: Becoming a *Monk in the World* with Paula Huston Jillian wins a signed copy of The Holy Way: Practices for a Simple Life Becoming a *Monk in the World* with Dana Reynolds Maureen at Writing Without Paper wins a signed copy of Our Turn Our Time: Women Truly Coming of Age Becoming a *Monk in the World* with Roy DeLeon Barbara Lindquist Miller wins a signed copy of Praying with the Body: Bringing the Psalms to Life. Becoming a

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October 31, 2011

Becoming a *Monk in the World* with Paula Huston

I first met Paula Huston about five years ago when I took a nonfiction writing class she was teaching through the fabulous Glen workshop.  The Glen is a really wonderful gathering of writers and artists wrestling with the questions of meaning and substance in life.  Paula is a gifted teacher and also offers her wisdom for writers through the Image Journal‘s online manuscript critique in creative nonfiction.  She is also a Camaldolese Benedictine oblate and the author of several books on the spiritual life. Leave a comment below for a chance to win a free signed copy of The Holy Way: Practices for

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October 24, 2011

Love has come for you

A couple of weeks ago I traveled to Los Angeles for the day.  Actually I was only in the “city of angels” for a total of six hours, long enough to get from the airport to the office of the Austrian Consulate where I could submit the paperwork I have been gathering for months now and apply for dual citizenship.  My father was an Austrian citizen and remained so until he died in 1996.  He is now buried in Vienna in the central cemetery with his parents. These last few years my husband and I have been returning to Vienna more frequently, it is

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October 24, 2011