Visit the Abbey of the Arts online retreat platform to access your programs:

Say Yes (2)

The Road

Here is the road: the light
comes and goes then returns again.
Be gentle with your fellow travelers
as they move through the world of stone and stars
whirling with you yet every one alone.
The road waits.
Do not ask questions but when it invites you
to dance at daybreak, say yes.
Each step is the journey; a single note the song.

-Arlene Gay Levine, from Bless the Day: Prayers and Poems to Nurture Your Soul

** For the season of Advent I am posting a reflection each Sunday on a theme from the lectionary readings and then during the week offering a poem each day to highlight that theme — see this past Sunday here **

You might also enjoy

Sacred Time ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, Our featured self-study retreat this month is Sacred Time, the companion retreat to my book of the same title.  Here is an excerpt from the introduction to the book: We live in a breathless world. Everything around us seems to move

Read More »

New Interview with Christine Valters Paintner

Christine was featured in an interview with AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast on the intersection of creativity and monastic spirituality. In addition to being a Benedictine Oblate, Christine is Jesuit educated, with degrees from Fordham and Santa Clara Universities, and has written a library of books

Read More »

Monk in the World Guest Post: Krissy Kludt

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to our Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Krissy Kludt’s reflection and poem Of Dust and Water. Several years ago, I texted my father from a snowbound house in Tahoe,

Read More »

3 Responses

  1. This message of gentleness is so vital. So many people are brittle from the cold and the memories of holidays past. This reminder that we are pacing a road through the same season is one to carry with great reverence.

    Blessings along your stretch of the road,
    Marisa