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Monk in the World Guest Post: Callie J. Smith

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to our Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Callie J. Smith’s reflection Yarns and Yams: On Enjoying What My Loved Ones Enjoy. Vivid strawberry, variegated mango with cream and aquamarine, a very soft and buttery yellow–my mother handknits dishcloths in a wonderful variety of colors and patterns. I love seeing her smile each time she shows me her latest yarn purchase and, knowing another dishcloth is coming, I find myself soaking up her enthusiasm for the process. Even when my mother pauses from her knitting,

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August 13, 2025
Abbess love notes

Loving Into Justice ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims,  We are delighted to begin our 2025-2026 program year and our 20th year of ministry this Friday, August 15th with a retreat on Loving into Justice led by the wonderful Coke Tani. Coke offers this reflection and introduction to what we will explore in our time together. With a heart of creativity and solidarity, I look forward to sharing time with you this Friday at our online mini-retreat, Loving into Justice: Pilgrimage through the Body. I imagine that love, justice, pilgrimage, and the body are not new for you of the Abbey, and for this I bow to

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August 10, 2025
Monk in the World Guest Post Series

Monk in the World Guest Post: Rachel Grandey

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to our Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Rachel Grandey’s reflection on bringing the heart of contemplative practice to research and opening to the questions. In 2023 I left my job of ten years as a teacher in South East Asia, to start the new adventure of a PhD back in my passport country. As I reflect on the past two years, I realise that the practice of persevering in being present to my studies is teaching me just as much about vocation as being

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August 6, 2025
Abbess love notes

The Year Ahead at Abbey of the Arts ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims,  We hope you have had a restful and inspiring summer. We always cherish this time of quiet reflection and dreaming into the new academic year of programs. I have savored having some time to simply be and deepen into the sacred rhythms of life. Out of this wellspring of rest, flows forth our calendar for the coming months which you can find here.  Special thanks to our always amazing program coordinator Melinda Thomas for her wonderful work putting that together. So much happens at the Abbey due to her efforts! I am excited for the variety of

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August 3, 2025
Uncategorized

A Blessing for Creativity + Sabbatical Announcement

A Blessing for CreativitySpirit of Holy Imagination,we ask you to bless our visionwith the wisdom to see what is possible. Help us trust our desire to createthrough color, word, shape, gesture, and song. When our fingers trembleat picking up a pen or marker,connect us to the joy of playing on the white page, drawing,doodling, dabbling, dreaming,letting our livesbe a canvas for expression. When judgments ariseand the inner critic yells, guide us to hear our intuitionswhispering the way aheadwith quiet confidence. When our feet feel restless,inspire us to play music and dance freely until peace descends again. Connect us to the

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June 22, 2025
Monk in the World Guest Post Series

Monk in the World Guest Post: Teresa Calpino

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Teresa Calpino’s reflection on wisdom from Mary Magdalene as the apostle and prophet of grief “I know why we try to keep the dead alive: we try to keep them alive, to keep them with us. I also know that if we are to live ourselves there comes a point at which we must relinquish the dead, let them go.”― Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking Joan Didion is one of our prophets of grief. She testifies that

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June 18, 2025

Monk in the World Guest Post: Anne Marie Cribbin

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Anne Marie Cribbin’s reflection Embracing Celtic Rhythms through Sobriety. In a world that spins with relentless speed, I have found my sanctuary in the gentle rhythms of the Celtic calendar. Sobriety, an anchor in my life, has opened a door to a monastic way of being—a life steeped in mindfulness, simplicity, and sacred connection to the earth’s cycles. This journey is not just about abstaining from alcohol but about embracing a life that is intentional, reflective, and

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June 11, 2025
Abbess love notes

Brother Lawrence and the Practice of the Presence + Prayer Cycle Day 6 ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, This Friday, June 13th we are delighted to welcome Wisdom Council member and award winning translator Carmen Acevedo Butcher to lead us in a retreat on Brother Lawrence and the Practice of the Presence. Read on for Carmen’s reflection Courageous Brother Lawrence and His Easy Practice. In the Paris of King Louis XIV, Brother Lawrence was little noticed. Born Nicolas Herman into poverty, he was uneducated, a disabled war veteran, and the cook for a local monastery. Over 300 years later, though, his Practice of the Presence is beloved for its easy-on-the-heart wisdom for living with love and

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June 8, 2025
Books

Give Me a Word Reviewed by Library Journal!

Christine’s forthcoming book Give Me a Word: The Promise of an Ancient Practice to Guide Your Year was reviewed by Marjorie Mann at Library Journal. “The tradition of asking “Give me a word” is a spiritual and meditation practice rooted in early third-century Christianity, which Paintner (Journey to Joy: A Fairy Tale for Thresholds and Transitions) seeks to reintroduce to modern audiences. The practice is Christian in its genesis, but Paintner also pulls from other religious traditions to illuminate and guide readers through slowing down their lives and connecting with the divine via meditating on a word. This book is

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June 4, 2025
Uncategorized

Monk in the World Guest Post: Jill Ore

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Jill Ore’s reflection on the parallels between a monastic cell and an offshore lighthouse. I am currently writing a book that identifies and explores the common features found in the locations and lives of Christian monasteries and monks that are shared with isolated offshore lighthouses and their historical keepers. Integrating contemplative practices into my routine as a modern-day offshore lighthouse keeper facilitates recognizing and experiencing those connections fostered in the solitude and simplicity of lighthouse life. I

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June 4, 2025