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Monk in the World: Community 6 – Reflection Questions and Blessing ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest 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 Three: I commit to cultivating community by finding kindred spirits along the path, soul friends with whom I can share my deepest longings, and mentors who can offer guidance and wisdom for the journey. Questions for Reflection  Where in your life do you experience a genuine sense of community or soul friendship already? When you

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Christine’s Recent Poetry + Art

Christine has had several poems published recently in various journals online: Book of Kells in ARTS: Journal for the Arts in Religious and Theological Studies Handless Maiden in North West Words (inspired by one of Christine’s favorite fairy tales of the same name) Little Red Riding Hood in Bangor Literary Journal Christine has a second collection of poems that will be published in fall 2020 by Paraclete Press titled The Wisdom of Wild Grace with a series of poems inspired by the many wonderful stories of kinship between saints and animals. She’s been working with UK artist David Hollington to

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Featured Poet: Bethany Reid

Last spring we launched a series with poets whose work we love and want to feature and will continue it moving forward. Our next poet is Bethany Reid whose work is centered on memory, caregiving, loss and wings. Read her poetry and discover more about the connections she makes between poetry and the sacred. Listen to her read “Sparrow” below. Sparrow What could the Bible mean when it says no sparrow falls without God’s notice? They do fall. “The Bible”: that’s too impersonal. It was some writer of the New Testament, some Hebrew poet turned Christian who chose “sparrow,” a metaphor

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Monk in the World: Community 5 – Suggestions for Practice ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest 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 Three: I commit to cultivating community by finding kindred spirits along the path, soul friends with whom I can share my deepest longings, and mentors who can offer guidance and wisdom for the journey. Consider finding one or two others in your life who might support you on your journey to be a monk

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Images of Mary and the Sacred Feminine from Christine’s Recent Visit to Prague

Christine recently traveled to Prague for a conference on Jung, magic, alchemy, and Christian mysticism, as well as some more ancestral pilgrimage, and arrived a day early. “I went to the Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia (formerly a monastery of the Poor Clares) which now houses the medieval collection (1200-1550) of the National Gallery in Prague. I came to see the Black Madonna of Breznice, which is quite beautiful. What I found was dozens of Madonna figures, a treasure trove of sacred feminine images. Probably 80-90% of the large collection is of Mary. These are only some of them. My

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Monk in the World: Pat Butler

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 “Confession: Naked and Unashamed.”  Prologue: We use the word confession in different ways. We confess things we believe: we confess Christ. We confess ignorance: maybe about technology, when we don’t understand it as well as we’d like. Jesus made the “the good confession” before Pilate. And we confess sin, admitting we got things wrong. I confess I don’t always like that last one. When a Lenten devotional recommended confession as a discipline, I squirmed.

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Monk in the World: Community 4 ~ Guided Meditation by Christine + AUDIO

Dearest monks, artists and pilgrims,   This is a guided meditation experience and adaptation of the Examen prayer, developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola. He recommended it as a way to pray at the end of each day, reflecting on what has been most life-giving and life-draining.  I have adapted this prayer as a reflection on your experiences each day of community and disconnection.  Consider praying this several days in a row as a way of paying attention to where community happens in your life. Begin by finding a comfortable position and moving your attention inward. Draw your attention into your

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Three Upcoming Resources for 2020 – Reclaim Intimacy with Nature

I am so excited for these upcoming offerings in 2020! Three resources to help support you in reclaiming a radical intimacy with nature and sustain and galvanize you in these uncertain times. Coming April 2020 from Ave Maria Press: *Earth, Our Original Monastery: Cultivating Wonder & Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature* Isn’t the cover below beautiful? ? ? (pre-order link – https://amzn.to/2p1TmzX) Coming Spring 2020 from Abbey of the Arts: *Earth, Our Original Monastery: Singing Our Way to the Sacred* (An album of 14 songs to help celebrate and deepen your intimacy with the more-than-human-world + a DVD of dance

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Featured Poet: Tania Runyan

Last spring we launched a series with poets whose work we love and want to feature and will continue it moving forward. Our next poet is Tania Runyan whose work is centered on grappling with biblical themes and contradictions. Read her poetry and discover more about the connections she makes between poetry and the sacred. Man is Without Excuse Perhaps you could say that in Rome, Paul, where the olive trees of the Seven Hills strung their pearls of rain against the sky. And yes, as I hike Glacier Park with a well-stocked pack, I can welcome God’s ambassadors of fireweed

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Monk in the World 3: Community ~ Reflection by Christine + AUDIO

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 Three: I commit to cultivating community by finding kindred spirits along the path, soul friends with whom I can share my deepest longings, and mentors who can offer guidance and wisdom for the journey. Listen to the audio version of this reflection.   Edward Sellner, in his wonderful book Finding the Monk Within, writes,

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