Remember to come back on Monday for our next Poetry Party!









(Leaves discovered on the ground outside my hermitage this morning.)
May your weekend bring you the still gifts of winter’s release and rest.
-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts
Remember to come back on Monday for our next Poetry Party!









(Leaves discovered on the ground outside my hermitage this morning.)
May your weekend bring you the still gifts of winter’s release and rest.
-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, My time of sabbatical from teaching is come to a close. During my writing time I was able to complete two manuscripts: a fourth collection of poetry titled What Enters Through the Open Heart (to be published by Monkfish Publishing in

As a virtual monastery, our community reaches around the globe. As of November 2025, over 1700 people have affirmed the Monk Manifesto to join the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks, committing to live a compassionate, contemplative, and creative life. We love how our virtual format
I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Lillian Lewis’ reflection and poem Winter Morning Prayer. I am dancing my morning prayer around an outdoor “shrine or altar” to the Great
13 Responses
Beautiful photos, Christine. I’ve viewed them several times since yesterday. I can almost feel the bite of the frosty air on my nose and the hear the crunch of frozen leaves underfoot. I don’t ever recall appreciating November before but I think I am loving this season of darkness — punctuated by that glorious full moon last night.
Thanks Anne and Suz! I love to help people learn to love the season of darkness. :-)
I love them, Christine. You are helping me see the beauty of the season. I hope I, too, will learn to like winter. It would be an asset in Minnesota!
Incredibly beautiful!!!!
Thank you everyone, I am really pleased with these images!
stunning!
Such gorgeous photos of the beauty that surrounds us here in the NOrthwest.
Wow, those photos are just beautiful. It is always comforting to realize such beauty in this world.
these photos are too beautiful!! what a pile of treasure on your doorstep!!