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Going on Retreat

How necessary it is for monks to work in the fields, in the rain, in the sun, in the mud, in the clay, in the wind: these are our spiritual directors and our novice-masters. They form our contemplation. They instill us with virtue. They make us as stable as the land we live in.  -Thomas Merton

On this night of the full moon, I am off for a few days of retreat with my spiritual director Abbess Petunia.  I will be listening to the wind, rain, and sunlight for their sacred whispers.  I will root myself among trees and allow the call of my night dreams to spill forth again into my life.

I am much in need of silence right now.  See you back here on Monday.  I’ll share some of what I discover.

-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

(in the meantime, make sure to scroll down and read this week’s Sacred Artist Interview!)

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11 Responses

  4. Blessings on your retreat. I leave Friday morning myself for some wonderful, holy Native American land in Michigan for a long weekend retreat.

  5. i’m thinking of you with empty hands, Christine … and of those hands dipping into a luminous pool of moonlight and meditation … as you bring your hands to your lips, may what you drink and how you drink be enough to sustain you.

  6. “How necessary it is for monks to work in the fields, in the rain, in the sun, in the mud” — love that quote!! Am moving into retreat mode also. Have reclaimed an artistic journey, i thought had reached an impasse, but which opened unexpectedly recently with the help a martial arts author ?!?!

  7. my own heart relaxed by simply reading the words of your retreat. enjoy, dear friend. i hope this glorious fall weather follows you to your destination. xoxoxoox

  8. Note to the Abbess: you need only be present [and I suspect you are very good at that! ]

    May these next days ebb and flow, be fallow and fertile.
    Blessed be.