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Season of Resurrection

Do you have a body? Don’t sit on the porch! Go out and walk in the rain! If you are in love, then why are you asleep? Wake up, wake up! You have slept millions of years Why not wake up this morning -Kabir I have been away this last week, traveling to visit family for Easter and then the Spiritual Directors International conference where Awakening the Creative Spiritwas officially released (and the bookstore sold out of their copies!) In between I was going to have a few days to play in San Francisco with my beloved. Instead we both

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Here and Now

Getting There You take a final step and, look, suddenly You’re there. You’ve arrived At the one place all your drudgery was aimed for: This common ground Where you stretch out, pressing your cheek to sandstone. What did you want To be? You’ll remember soon. You feel like tinder Under a burning glass, A luminous point of change. The sky is pulsing Against the cracked horizon, Holding it firm till the arrival of stars In time with your heartbeats. Like wind etching rock, you’ve made a lasting impression On the self you were By having come all this way through

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Another great review of Water, Wind, Earth, & Fire

I am honored to have my book Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements reviewed on the wonderful site Spirituality and Practice: “This well-done and quote-filled paperback forges deep and rich connections between the Christian faith and the natural world.”

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Easter Season E-Course Registration Reminder

Register for the Easter Season E-Course by the end of today – April 1st – and receive an early registration free bonus copy of What is Blossoming Within You? and your books will mail out tomorrow. If you order between April 2-11 your books will ship on Monday, April 12th.  Hope you will join the fun! WATER, WIND, EARTH & FIRE: Easter Season Five-Week E-Course Practice Resurrection •  Pray with the Elements April 18-May 23, 2010 Forest and field, sun and wind and sky, earth and water, all speak the same silent language, reminding the monk that he is here

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Invitation to Poetry: Blessed Be

Welcome to our 45th Poetry Party! I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your poems or other reflections. Add your responses in the comments section.  Feel free to take your poem in any direction and then post the image and invitation on your blog (if you have one) and encourage others to come join the party! (permission is granted to reprint the image if a link is provided back to this post) _________________________________________________ POETRY PARTY THEME: Blessed Be I co-lead two Soul Care Supervision Groups here in Seattle with my wonderful partner Kayce Hughlett (click the

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Altar for an Unknown God

I am in the midst of the Novena of Grace, a powerful Lenten retreat in everyday life which I coordinate for the Ignatian Spirituality Center.  Along with teaching my Lenten E-Course on Benedictine Spiritual Practices and Eyes of the Heart: Photography as Contemplative Practice courses, my days are full of rich reflection.  I offer here another slightly revised reflection written last year. Reading my words again I am moved to find they still ring very true in my heart. __________________________________________ Let mystery have its place in you; do not be always turning up your whole soil with the plowshare of

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Visual Meditation: I am Part of a Great Migration

___________________________________ AWAKENING THE CREATIVE SPIRIT: Bringing the Expressive Arts to Spiritual Direction is currently in stock at Amazon.com – Order a copy full of ideas and inspirations for bringing the arts to soul care ministries! ___________________________________ *REGISTER FOR THE SUMMER SESSION* July 19-August 29, 2010 The early registration discount is extended until March 10th ($125 per class instead of $150) There are only a few spots left in each class! ___________________________________ © Christine Valters Paintner at Abbey of the Arts: Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

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Saints in Walgreens (Reprise)

Last year I wrote this Lenten reflection on meeting the Saints in Walgreens and I offer it here again in a slightly revised version: ____________________________________________ These have been very full days.  This Thursday the Novena of Grace begins, which is a nine-day preached retreat in everyday life hosted by the Ignatian Spirituality Center where I work half-time as Program Coordinator. Essentially there are two liturgies  each day, midday and early evening, and participants can choose one.  It is a truly transformative experience, gathering together for a pilgrimage of the heart in the midst of everyday life.  I have been working with the

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Transfiguration

Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. -Luke 9:28-29 Today’s gospel reading is of the Transfiguration of Jesus which is a story of seeing and how beauty becomes a window onto the divine. The burning light that once appeared to Moses in the bush now radiates from Jesus himself. For Gregory Palamas (a 14th c. Orthodox monk), it was the disciples who changed at the transfiguration, not Christ. Christ was transfigured: … not by the addition of something he

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Celebrate with me!!

Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction – the book – is here! My box of books has arrived – I got a sneak peek at my new book at a book festival a week and a half ago and finally have my own copies to hold in my hand and savor.  Morehouse Publishing did a fabulous job with the layout of the text – we had various little icons to indicate the different art exercises, some photos, as well as a variety of contributors. Amazon.com says the books ship in 1-2 months, but rest assured they

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