(Photo taken in Squamish, BC – quote discovered while on pilgrimage) * Crossing the Threshold: New Year, New Beginnings will be available early next week – order your copies for holiday gifts today! * © Christine Valters Paintner at Abbey of the Arts: Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts
As I began this year I had an encounter with a flock of pigeons which lifted my heart unexpectedly and then I found a feather on my doorstep. And so “Taking Flight” became my image for the year ahead. On my recent pilgrimage, winged ones – both avian and angelic – were significant symbols for me, appearing to me constantly during my travels and reminding me of that heart-transcending moment months before. The crow in particular became significant. I have always loved these black “glossy and rowdy” creatures, and since moving to Seattle over six years ago I have become
I think we talk because what lives inside silence scares us. -Linda Hogan Where will your own “zona sacra” be found today? (Photos taken at the Abbey of Montecassino in Italy) © Christine Valters Paintner at Abbey of the Arts: Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts
There is a story from the Desert Fathers where one asks another “what is a monk?” And the response was “someone who asks ‘what is a monk?’ everyday.” Laurence Freeman, OSB at the World Congress of Benedictine Oblates in Rome began his talk on contemplation with this image and invited us as Oblates to consider the same possibility – that being an Oblate means asking ourselves, ‘what is an Oblate?’ every single day. I loved this definition shaped by a continual return to questions. It embraces one of the central hallmarks of Benedictine life which is a commitment to conversion.
Welcome to our 40th Poetry Party! I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your poems or other reflections. Add them in the comments section and a link to your blog (if you have one). Make sure to check the comments for new poems added and I encourage you to leave encouraging comments for each other either here or at the poet’s own blog. 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
I am leaving again to lead a retreat on Honoring Our Ancestors. These next few days are a threshold time in the Celtic calendar, when the veil between worlds is said to be especially thin. I have been lingering in this thin place for the last month and am eager to join with a group of women to honor this sacred time of year. In the Christian tradition, we are entering a time when we honor our beloved dead who have passed on before us. Together with my teaching and writing partner Betsey Beckman, we will engage in art and
Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake. -Wallace Stevens I began my pilgrimage in Rome arriving late at night after my flight was delayed by several hours and I was bumped to a later connection. The first day of the World Congress of Benedictine Oblates was very full. I remember feeling filled with anticipation and also drained from the long travel. The Congress was held at a conference center on the outskirts of Rome, a beautiful setting. That first evening I took a long slow walk around the perimeter of the property. The evening light was illuminating the world around
Christine at Blisschick invited me to reflect on a moment of “unexpected bliss” for her series this week. Stop by to read my reflections on the way language can express the “curves of (our) longing” . . . lovely for me to re-read these words I wrote before my trip as I sit now in Vienna. Tomorrow I head to Ireland for the final third of my pilgrimage triptych and won’t have much computer access while there, so more stories and photos when I return home in just over a week.
The darkness embraces everything, It lets me imagine a great presence stirring beside me. I believe in the night. -Rainer Maria Rilke in Book of Hours I write to you from the beautiful city of Vienna. I am in the middle of an amazing time of pilgrimage and journeying to the heart of myself. After many months of hard work writing and writing, I am now taking time to be and receive the gifts that move in me in response to the landscapes I am visiting. My first week was spent in Rome for the World Congress of Benedictine Oblates.
A quick note to let you know that my Teaching Calendar has been updated with several upcoming retreat & workshop opportunities. A reminder to join Betsey Beckman and me for a wonderful Art & Movement retreat to Honor Our Ancestors over the weekend of Halloween, Samhain, and All Saint’s. This will be a beautiful time of welcoming in the dark half of the year and the wisdom of our ancestors who beat within our very blood. Through ritual, storytelling, art-making, gentle movement, poetry, and being in nature, we will deepen our awareness of the gifts of those who have walked
