Christine has three poems in the newest edition of Impspired Magazine online! Click the link for “St Clare and the Cat,” “St Francis and the Wolf,” and “My Last Poem.” The first two are from her series of saint and animals poems. Click here to read the poems at Inspired Magazine.
I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World Guest Post series from the community. Read on for Rita Simon’s reflection, “Finding Treasures in Aimlessness.” For where your treasure is, there your heart will be. ~ Matthew 6:21 Walk and touch peace every moment. Walk and touch happiness every moment. Each step brings a fresh breeze. Each step makes a flower bloom under your feet. ~Thich Nhat Hahn I grew up the eldest of nine children in a small Wisconsin town. My mother did not drive until she finally got her license at age 60,
Dearest monks and artists, Today’s Pentecost reflection comes from the Abbey Archives. “What is serious to men is often very trivial in the sight of God. What in God might appear to us as ‘play’ is perhaps what He Himself takes most seriously. At any rate the Lord plays and diverts Himself in the garden of His creation, and if we could let go of our own obsession with what we think is the meaning of it all, we might be able to hear His call and follow Him in His mysterious, cosmic dance.” ~ Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation
Dear monks, artists and pilgrims, During this Jubilee year of sabbatical we are revisiting our Monk Manifesto by moving slowly through the Monk in the World retreat materials together every Sunday. This is our eighth and final principle that we will explore for the next six weeks. Principle 8. I commit to being a dancing monk, cultivating creative joy and letting my body and “heart overflow with the inexpressible delights of love.” *quote is from the Prologue of the Rule of Benedict 2 Samuel 6:1-5 David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem David again gathered all the chosen people of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people
I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Ted Witham’s reflection “Knocked for Six.” In the Australian idiom, I was ‘knocked for six’ last year by my first encounter with depression and anxiety. The mental illness shook me from my center. I closed down emotionally and physically, and only after six or eight weeks of gentle care from physician and psychiatrist I began again to find some equilibrium. One of my practices that was ‘knocked for six’ was my decades-long engagement with the Scriptures through
Dear monks, artists, and pilgrims, During this Jubilee year of sabbatical we are revisiting our Monk Manifesto by moving slowly through the Monk in the World retreat materials together every Sunday. This is our eighth and final principle that we will explore for the next six weeks. Principle 8. I commit to being a dancing monk, cultivating creative joy and letting my body and “heart overflow with the inexpressible delights of love.” *quote is from the Prologue of the Rule of Benedict “What is more delightful than this voice of the Holy One calling to us? See how God’s love shows us the way of life.” —Rule
I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Pat Butler’s reflection, “The Secret Place Studio.” “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”—Matthew 6:6 Just as an artist needs a quiet studio to practice his or her discipline, a monk in the world needs a quiet studio to pray. We might call it a cell or prayer closet; I prefer to think
Dear monks, artists and pilgrims, I wrote this reflection last Sunday morning, Mother’s Day in the U.S.: Each day John and I walk with Sourney up the canal and down the river that slice through Galway. Yesterday the swan we’ve seen nesting across the smooth water for several weeks was out with her new babies, five tiny grey cygnets swimming behind her as she searched for food. Back at home, the starlings have nested again outside our building in the large fuchsia bushes as they do each May. The young ones old enough to fly come to our balcony with
Dear monks, artists and pilgrims, During this Jubilee year of sabbatical we are revisiting our Monk Manifesto by moving slowly through the Monk in the World retreat materials together every Sunday. Each week will offer new reflections on the theme and every six weeks will introduce a new principle. Principle 7. I commit to a lifetime of ongoing conversion and transformation, recognizing that I am always on a journey with both gifts and limitations. This week I invite you to ponder the following questions as guides for your practice of conversion. Are there areas of your life which could benefit from an infusion
Dearest dancing monks, On June 23rd and 24th John and I each turn 50 years old! It marks the official end of our Jubilee sabbatical year. This year has been a tremendous gift for us and we will be sharing more in the coming weeks about some of what we discovered. We were planning to have a combined 100th birthday party in Galway to celebrate, but due to the pandemic, we sadly had to cancel our celebrations. So we are coming to you, our beloved community with a request for a birthday present: Would you consider creating a short (15-20
