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Kinship with Creation

One of the elements of Celtic spirituality that most attracts me is its sense of kinship with all of creation. I have written here many times about the connections between animals and spirituality. While I was in Ireland I read several books on Irish history and Celtic spirituality. In Thomas Cahill’s book How the Irish Saved Civilization, he describes the prayer of St. Patrick’s breastplate as conveying this simple message: “The universe itself is the Great Sacrament.” The French Jesuit and scientist Teilhard de Chardin described our interconnection as the “breathing together of all things.” All God’s creatures are theophanies The world is holy and

July 25, 2007

Inspiration as Grace

The other essay in the Theological Aesthetics book I am reading that has especially moved me is by the liberation theologian Leonardo Boff from his book Liberating Grace: “The poet, the musician, and the writer feel overtaken by inspiration. On the one hand, it is they who do the work. Their energy and their deepest selves are totally involved. The effort to express themselves often leads to complete exhaustion. On the other hand, they feel possessed by something that is above them, outside them, or within them. It drives them to create, compelling them to express their inner experience to

July 24, 2007

Do you know how beautiful you are?

Saints Bowing in the Mountains Do you know how beautiful you are? I think not, my dear. For as you talk of God, I see great parades with wildly colorful bands Streaming from your mind and heart, Carrying wonderful and secret messages To every corner of this world. I see saints bowing in the mountains Hundreds of miles away To the wonder of sounds That break into light From your most common words. Speak to me of your mother, Your cousins and your friends. Tell me of squirrels and birds you know. Awaken your legion of nightingales— Let them soar

July 23, 2007

Benedictine Resources

Sister Laura Swan, the former Prioress of St. Placid, where I am an Oblate, was interviewed on our local public radio station, you can find the link here. Sr. Laura has written several books on Benedictine tradition worth checking out: The Forgotten Desert Mothers: Sayings, Lives, and Stories of Early Christian Women Engaging Benedict: What The Rule Can Teach Us Today The Benedictine Tradition (Spirituality in History) I am off for a few days of creative inspiration. I will still have posts each day this week and should have email access as well but I may be a bit slower than usual

July 21, 2007

Beauty

I have been reading Theological Aesthetics: A Reader for a book proposal I am working on for a publisher. It is going to be a book about beauty and aesthetic spirituality inspired by an article I wrote once and I am very excited about this project. The book is a reader which means many of the selections are rather dry and dull, the book overall is very academic. But there have been several gems I have discovered here and there such as Basil, Augustine, and Ambrose who all describe God as the Supreme Artist. Or Gregory of Nyssa who writes:

July 20, 2007

The Lily

-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts (photos of avalanche lilies in bloom in the alpine meadows at Mount Rainier from an impromptu and most delightful visit the last couple of days)

July 19, 2007

Silence Can Feel Like Praise

I’ve gone to the fields to run barefoot through grass and pick daisies, to sing and be silent. Where will you run off to this summer day? -Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

July 18, 2007

Open Doors

-Christine Valters Paintner@ Abbey of the Arts (doors from top to bottom: Rock of Cashel, Strokestown Museum Gardens, “Out of the Blue” in Dingle, Cottage in Dingle, Church on Dingle Peninsula)

July 16, 2007

Daily

I adore poems that express the sacredness of the ordinary, a litany of dailiness, the things that nourish us and sustain us, yet we forget that each is gift, each is a sacrament offered as a glimpse of holiness rippling through the fabric of our days. Today I am grateful for a perfect cup of rose-scented tea upon waking, a long walk through my favorite city park, the dahlias that are beginning to bloom already, the feel of a cool shower on sticky skin warmed from summer sun, lunch and meaningful conversation with a good friend, a nap curled up with my sweet dog, and a

July 15, 2007

Awe and Wonder

In the first few days of our trip through Ireland I had this dream: My husband and I are on a cruise through Alaska and go up on the top deck in the middle of the night. The sky is black with a thousand stars glittering across it. Then suddenly I see the aurora borealis off in the distance and moving closer, first green and then purple. I am in complete awe and wonder. I look down and there is a little girl standing there who looks like me at her age. I lift her up toward the sky so she can

July 14, 2007

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Do you know how beautiful you are?

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Silence Can Feel Like Praise

Open Doors

Daily

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