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

The Call of Retreat: Unfurl

I go on a long walk through the forest listening for the word calling to me.  It is a form of lectio divina I practice where nature is the sacred text revealing holy wonders to my heart.  I step further into the silence of trees and moss and ferns.  The forest floor is covered with ferns, creation’s lush and extravagant gesture.  At first I notice the large and mature ones with their wide leaves, but soon my gaze is called to tend to these tender shoots unfurling themselves.  If I listen closely I can hear the quiet movements of a symphony rising, the steady rhythm of the forest breathing, the song of adoration whispered from outstretched branches.

Suddenly all I can see are a profusion of delicate green spirals  each slowly revealing the grace of beginnings.  I pause at each one bending down in an act of supplication.  Each one calls me to unfurl into my life’s deepest desires.  My heart quickens.  I sing my own holy yes in response.

What is unfurling within you?

You might also enjoy

From Intention to Attention ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, This Friday, June 12th, we are delighted to welcome Brother Richard Hendrick, OFM Cap. for a retreat on moving From Intention to Attention: Becoming Really Present in Prayer. We will encounter this flow through the lens of the Christian contemplative tradition, looking at

Read More »

Monk in the World Guest Post: Alexia Jons

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Alexia Jons’ reflection Living the Sacred in Ordinary Time: How Creativity Becomes a Form of Contemplative Prayer. For a long time, I

Read More »

One Response

  1. I don’t know what it is [yet!] but I know this: for days I have been drawing nothing but various kinds of spirals in a journal and the only word I’ve written is ‘Beginnings’…..must be time to take a walk and listen!!