Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

  • Welcome
    • Prayer Cycle
      • Introduction to the Earth Monastery Prayer Cycle
      • Day 1 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Cathedral
      • Day 2 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Scriptures
      • Day 3 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Saints
      • Day 4 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Spiritual Directors
      • Day 5 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Icon
      • Day 6 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Sacrament
      • Day 7 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Liturgy
      • Prayer Cycle Leader Resources
    • About the Abbey
    • About Christine Valters Paintner
    • About John Valters Paintner
    • About the Wisdom Council
    • Monk Manifesto
    • Join the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks
    • Subscribe to Our Love Notes
    • Website privacy notice
  • Books
    • Sacred Time:
      Embracing an Intentional Way of Life
    • The Wisdom of Wild Grace: Poems
    • Earth, Our Original Monastery:
      Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
    • Dreaming of Stones: Poems
    • The Soul's Slow Ripening:
      12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred
    • The Wisdom of the Body:
      A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women
    • Illuminating the Way:
      Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics
    • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
      Eight Practices for the Journey Within
    • Eyes of the Heart:
      Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice
    • The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom
    • Desert Mothers and Fathers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Annotated & Explained
    • Lectio Divina–The Sacred Art: Transforming Words and Images into Heart-Centered Prayer
    • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements
    • Awakening the Creative Spirit:
      Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction
    • Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening & Awareness
  • Poetry | Art | Music
    • Music + DVD
    • Poetry by Christine Valters Paintner
    • Poetry Videos
    • Dancing Monk Icons
    • Other Art Collaborations
      • Monk in the World art series by Kristin Noelle
      • Saints & Animals art series by David Hollington
      • Sacred Time art series by Alexi Francis
      • Mary block print art series by Kreg Yingst
  • Programs
    • Walk the Ancient Paths: Pilgrimage
      • Monk in the World (Ireland)
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Poetry and the Sacred Garden of the World (Ireland)
      • Vienna Monk in the World (Austria)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
    • Live Programs and Spiritual Retreats
      • Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts (Northwest)
    • Community Online Retreats
      • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color
      • The Way of the Hermit:
        A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times
        with Kayleen Asbo, PhD
      • The Spiral Way:
        Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination
      • Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers (Lent 2021)
      • Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life (Spring 2021)
    • Self-Study Online Spiritual Retreats
      • Creative Flourishing in the Heart of the Desert:
        An Online Retreat with St. Hildegard of Bingen
      • Dreaming of the Sea:
        A women’s discernment journey through the story of the Selkie
      • Earth, Our Original Monastery
        A Companion Retreat to the Book (SELF-STUDY)
      • Exile and Coming Home:
        An Archetypal Journey through the Scriptures
      • Eyes of the Heart:
        Photography as Contemplative Practice
        (Companion retreat to the book)
      • Honoring Saints and Ancestors:
        Online Retreat for the Season of Remembrance
      • Lectio Divina:
        The Sacred Art of Reading the World
      • A Midwinter God:
        Making a Conscious Underworld Journey
      • Sacred Rhythms of Sky, Sun, Sea & Stone:
        A Creative Retreat with the Elements (SELF-STUDY)
      • Sacred Seasons:
        A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year
      • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
        Eight Practices for the Journey Within
        (a companion retreat to the book)
      • The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred (a companion retreat to the book)
      • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire
      • Watershed Moments
        in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures
      • Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist:
        A 12-Week Companion Retreat to The Artist's Rule
      • The Wisdom of the Body:
        A 10-Week Online Companion Retreat to the Book
      • The Wisdom of Mary and the Sacred Feminine
  • Calendar
  • Reflections
  • Contact

Spirituality

Soul Nourishment (Interlude)

What feeds your soul?   What is essential for you to feel well-nourished, alive, and energized?

I don't just mean how many calories you need to consume to function, or what balance of vitamins and minerals you need for body processes. 

I mean, what are the things in your life that bring you such delight you feel as though your heart might burst with gratitude?

I've had one of those weeks so far of feeling my soul deeply nourished (and its only Wednesday and I go out on my Sabbath hike with Kathy in a little while).

Last Sunday my husband and I walked up to the farmer's market in the morning and bought fromage blanc, sockeye salmon lox, spinach and gorgonzola ravioli, sweet yellow cherry tomatoes, raspberries, rosemary crackers, and a gorgeous fall bouquet with sunflowers and dahlias. 

We packed the food up in a bag and in the afternoon joined a friend and her husband on their boat around Lake Washington.  Friendship, meaningful conversation, wonderful food, while floating on the water and finding an abundance of beauty and stillness.  I am so aware this was truly a privilege.

Yesterday morning was my first class at STM, the students were wonderful (all 30 of them!) and engaged.  I felt energized and so at ease and was reminded again what I love about teaching.   I took the bus home, and as I climbed the steps of the number 60 bus down Broadway, smiled at the driver who carries people across the city each day, and dropped in my coins into the slot, the words of this wonderful poem stirred in me (it really is worth clicking over to read the whole thing!).   I prayed for peace. I prayed in gratitude for a life that is so deeply nourishing.  I gave thanks for the elderly couple sitting together across from me, the woman seemed to be at least partially blind and grasped the man's hand tightly.  As he held her close, telling her gently what streets and landmarks we were passing, he would stroke her skin to reassure her, witnessing to tenderness and his commitment in a world that so often feels disconnected.  I prayed "for everyone riding buses all over the world."

Last night the sun streamed through our windows illuminating the fall Farmer's Market bouquet on the table and sent glimmering, shimmering, droplets of light dancing across the wall.  I watched, entranced, noticing the way the light shifted and then was suddenly gone as quickly as it seemed to appear.

 

Then this morning I was graced by light again, making its slow pilgrimage across my floor:

Some other offerings to nourish your soul this day:

A wonderful video that is making the rounds on YouTube about a man giving away hugs in a touch-starved world.  I felt tears rise in me as I watched.

Lots of creative inspiration over at the Soul Food Cafe!

Taking time to notice each moment feels like stringing pearls along a slender strand. Life is good and rich and full.  Overflowing with abundance really.    And I am so very grateful.  Grateful for beauty, for poetry, for the grief that continues to rise in me, for moments when holiness pours forth like milk and honey, for all of you wonderful readers.  May your day be blessed with nourishment for your soul.

-Christine Valters Paintner

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3 Comments September 27, 2006

Upcoming Programs

The Way of the Hermit:
A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times

January 22-24, 2021
with Kayleen Asbo, PhD

The Spiral Way:
Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination

Hosted by the Rowe Center
February 1-21, 2021
with Christine Valters Paintner, PhD

Recent Reflections

  • Hildy Tales 3: Ní heolas go haontíos ~ by John Valters Paintner
  • Humility + Join us today for live prayer! ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales 2: Tús maith leath na hoibre – by John Valters Paintner
  • New Book Club for 2021: Lift Every Voice ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales One: Dia dhuit, is mise Hildy! by John Valters Paintner, Your Online Prior

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