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Visual Meditation: Birthday Blessings

I have had the gift of spending the last week by the sea, a time of retreat, rich reflection, and abundant blessing.  Today is my birthday and we head back home.  I take with me a gathering of gifts, some of which you will find below here. All photos taken this last week on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia. © Christine Valters Paintner at Abbey of the Arts: Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts Become a fan of the Abbey on Facebook, follow this blog on Facebook, friend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter

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June 23, 2009

The Gifts of Morning

The Gifts of Morning: Sun rippling across the sea, calling me to rise. © Christine Valters Paintner at Abbey of the Arts: Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

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June 22, 2009

Hours of a Day, Hours of a Life

Last weekend I was down in Oregon for the last weekend of a training program I participated in all last year on the Art of Supervision of Spiritual Directors.  It was a great program and supervision is one of my professional growing places, something I believe deeply in, not just for spiritual directors, but for all those in forms of pastoral ministry.  The word “supervision” doesn’t really do justice to the process — which is a way of deepening self-awareness and growth in response to encounters in work and ministry.  It is a place to set down our roles and

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June 19, 2009

Blooming

Poppies greet morning with orange wonder and mirth, I begin to bloom. -Christine Valters Paintner *** Make sure to visit this week’s new Photo Party! *** © Christine Valters Paintner at Abbey of the Arts: Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts Become a fan of the Abbey on Facebook, follow this blog on Facebook, friend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter

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June 17, 2009

Invitation to Photography: Summer Solstice

Welcome to the very first Abbey Photo Party!  This is a new experiment and sort of a twist on the regular Poetry Parties.  Instead of my selecting a theme and image and inviting you to respond with words, I will select a theme and poem and invite you to respond with images.  Since you can’t post images directly in the comments section here, I invite you to add them to the Flickr Group I have created.  Please do leave a comment below to let us know you have joined the party and feel free to link back to your own blog and post your image there too. 

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June 15, 2009

Liturgy as a Feast for the Senses

I will be writing a regular weekly article for Patheos on Art & Spirit in the Church. Click the link for this week’s feature, see the links below for previous articles.  It is for the Catholic Gateway, but much of what I write is accessible to an ecumenical audience. Liturgy as a Feast for the Senses The Christian imagination and experience of the world are shaped by a God who becomes fully human – who steps into what it means to be flesh with all of its joys and wounds. In the Gospels, we often find the person of Jesus sharing meals,

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June 10, 2009

Are you listening?

Growing up in New York City, my favorite place was The Cloisters (a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art with art from medieval European monasteries). I had fallen in love with the aesthetic dimension of monastic tradition long before I understood what that way of life really meant. The art, architecture, music, and illuminated manuscripts all made me swoon.  It wasn’t until graduate school that I really did begin to understand and fall further in love.  Hildegard of Bingen was my entrypoint.  Always having had a love of art and spirituality, I wanted to know more about this incredible woman who

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June 5, 2009

Beauty and Spirituality

Have you checked out Patheos yet? (the great new site exploring different religious traditions)  I will be contributing to them regularly on the topic of art and spirituality and my latest article is here — Beauty and Spirituality — so pour yourself a cup of tea and contemplate the role of beauty in your own spiritual practice and then head on over to this week’s Poetry Party  for more creative inspiration!

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June 4, 2009