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
    • Live Programs: Pilgrimage & Retreats
      • Monk in the World (Ireland)
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Vienna Monk in the World (Austria)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
      • Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts (Northwest)
    • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color Book Club
    • Community Online Retreats
      • The Spiral Way:
        Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination
      • Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers (Lent 2021)
      • Dancing with Fear in Troubled Times
      • Novena for Times of Unraveling
      • The Two HT’s-Harriet Tubman and Howard Thurman-on Being Free
      • Writing Into Bloom
        with Christine Valters Paintner
      • Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life (Spring 2021)
      • Poetry and the Sacred Garden of the World:
        An Online Writing Retreat
    • 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

Monk in the World Guest Post Series

Monk in the World guest post: Alizabeth Rasmussen

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Alizabeth Rasmussen has been part of our community for several years and I have been blessed to spend time with her in person at a previous Abbey retreat. She suffered a stroke last year and has been on an incredibly arduous and courageous (with courage here also referring to the root of that word, meaning "with heart") journey. Read on for her powerful wisdom about remembering:

Remembering and Forgetting

After the stroke,
the credit card machine
makes little sense, which way
does the strip go?

How many ways are there?
(More than you think.)

So it was at the garage that day…

I gave him the extra parking ticket,
that I bought by accident,
this stranger, without a word.

I was flustered,
I was late,
I was alone,

And I was lost.

The line of people at
this downtown garage,
the garage didn't have
stairs and was a maze.

(After the stroke,
I was more sensitive
to people…as if it was
not bad enough before.)

So many people.

After purchasing a ticket (times two),
I made my way back to the car.

Then I tripped…

My shoe was caught
on the other side as
the doorway closed
behind me.

and my purse scattered
on the ground,

I couldn't figure it out
without getting my feet wet
with rain.

A man rushed past me,
— THE man who I had
given my extra ticket to –

…and he ignored me.

I felt so invisible,
which made me feel this small

And…mad.

But then a woman stopped,
to make sure I was okay.

I asked her if she wouldn't
mind grabbing my shoe
(in gestures), and she did.

I haven't lost the ability
to say, "Thank you."
I meant it,
(I hope she knows.)

Finally, I got to my car.

And exhaled…and remembered…

I wondered how many
people I had rushed past,

On the way to work,
On the way to the gym,
On the way to school,
going home…countless times.

Not noticing because I was busy…what with?

And I wondered how many
had I stopped to help?

Simply noticing.

I remember, for that's what
being human is all about.

And that’s what being a
Monk In The World means to me.

Forgotten and remembering:
Silence,
God is quiet, after all,
why not listen for Him?

Forgotten and remembering:
Hospitality,
we are the same…everyone of us.
I am in the oneing of love,
(Lady Julian of Norwich.)

Forgotten and remembering:
Community,
when loneliness threatens,
reaching out,
making myself vulnerable.

Forgotten and remembering:
Kinship with Creation,
the trees and the animals,
the beauty that surrounds us.

Forgotten and remembering:
Meaningful Work,
For me, that is,
even if it is “just” healing work
(after all, what’s more
important than healing?)

Forgotten and remembering:
Sabbath,
to catch up with
the blessings of life.

Forgotten and remembering:
Conversion, and
Conversion, and
Conversion,
for the rest of our lives…

And maybe sooner than later
…next time.

Alizabeth Rasmussen

 


Alizabeth RasmussenAlizabeth Rasmussen is a freelance writer and photographer whose work has appeared indamselfly press, Wild Violet and Mused: The Bella Online Literary Review.  She blogs regularly at Write Click (www.writeclick.me) and is a Blog Editor for Literary Mama (www.literarymama.com)

Click here to read all the guest posts in the Monk in the World series>>

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17 Comments March 6, 2014

Upcoming Programs

The Spiral Way:
Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination

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

Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers
Retreat for Lent 2021

February 17-April 1, 2021
with Christine & John Valters Paintner and Betsey Beckman

Recent Reflections

  • Celtic Spirituality and the Spiral Way ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • 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

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