Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

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    • Breath Prayer:
      An Ancient Practice for the Everyday Sacred
    • 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
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      • Monk in the World art series by Kristin Noelle
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      • Sacred Time art series by Alexi Francis
      • Mary block print art series by Kreg Yingst
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    • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color Book Club
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      • Harriet Tubman and Howard Thurman-on Being Free
      • Writing Into Bloom
        with Christine Valters Paintner
      • Revelations: The Mysticism of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe
      • The Wisdom of Wild Grace: A Weekend Retreat Online
      • The Spiral Way:
        Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination
      • Sacred Balance:
        Aligning Body and Spirit Through
        Yoga and the Benedictine Way
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      • 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)
      • Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers
        (SELF-STUDY)
      • 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 (SELF-STUDY)
      • 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
    • Live Programs: Pilgrimage & Retreats
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
      • Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts (Northwest)
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Monk in the World Guest Post Series

Monk in the World guest post: Sharon Landis

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Sharon Landis's reflection on being powerfully ordinary:

I write constantly. I cannot stop writing as writing helps me process my life: helps me express my emotions rather than repress, helps me listen to my heart, express my faith, be gentle with my sensitives,  and ask the hard questions. I sometimes dialogue with God through writing, after I’ve listened deeply. I write about everything, even about my dog, garden, grandchildren. Through expressive writing, I assist my soul in catching up to where the rest of me resides.  Often, my body and mind move much faster than my inner being, my heart and soul.  Solitude, silence and writing help me live more mindfully, provide the spaciousness my heart needs to remain open in this tumultuous, ever-changing world.

Lately, I’m playing with this silly title as a year-long journal intention: Thoughts from an Ordinary Prophet. I looked up the word prophet. None of the definitions are my intention. However, I could possibly see myself as a spokesperson for a cause or movement if the cause wants to increase our ability to love, laugh, notice and savor.

Of course, I need plenty of grace to embrace those four, especially when I’m in a bad mood and want to see the glass half empty. On the other hand, I’m fascinated by how everything I encounter in life can be my teacher, even crappy stuff like peevishness and picking up dog piles in my yard. Speaking of my dog, she could be a prophet since she teaches me how to be present, wag my tail more rather than growl, and be enticed by a good scent or trail through the woods!

Sharon 2If I am open to learning from everyone and everything, and share what I learn with tail wagging enthusiasm, I could be an ordinary oracle, a seer of the common and normal. In a world besotted with fame, grandeur and celebrities, someone in love with simplicity and normalcy could be refreshing.

I love the prayer: God help me want to be ordinary. It forces my idealism out of hiding so I can see all sides, both the shining and the shadow.  I love the prayer because it shows me how to embrace my inability to change the world now. It means choosing the path less traveled, without attachment to accomplishments like having written a famous book or penning a highly quoted poem. It means standing by a line of trees, feeling sad they are going to be cut down, but sadder still that I took them for granted, never really noticing them before knowing of their fate.

The trees ask me: How much do I really honor and notice? How often do I sleep walk through life?  How much to I dream of extraordinary while missing the beautifully ordinary?

These questions remind me of a poem I wrote when my heart was exquisitely aware of both my ability to love and my inadequacy:

Inadequate Gratitude 

Wish I could scoop handfuls of glistening dew

and scatter the sparkles inside

or drape garlands of stars over doorways.

 

Wish I could capture delicious scents,

to perfume poverty and sadness with

jasmine, fresh rain, a crisp autumn day.

 

Wish I could spin the soulful trust of a puppy,

the quiet splendor of a misty morning,

and weave them into a beautiful tapestry.

 

Alas, all I have are my modest words,

my little soul, my limited heart

my inadequate bursts of gratitude.

 

I pray my offering expands as you receive

and becomes the wideness of the sky,

the freedom of a playful breeze…

 

the beat of a thousand hearts united

in a song of devotion,

souls soaked in grace, feasting on Love.

 

Perhaps enjoying a meaningful life really isn't a popularity contest. It could be that my ordinary self is extraordinary in ways I may not fully know. I’m sure the heart speaks in whispers while the ego and the world talk in shouts.  Sometimes, when I read Marianne Williamson’s words, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure,” it trips me up and makes me want to change the world again. Then I have to sit down and pray for the desire to be powerfully ordinary.

Sharon 1I always come back to believing who I am and doing what I love is enough. Perhaps sitting on a bench loving this fabulous earth, being awed by clouds and birds, honoring the life of the dead cat on the roadside, loving my dog, my family, myself, loving others, passing the wonder of stars and moon on to my grandchildren, laughing with the breeze, writing a blog or poetry is actually extra ordinary, and sharing my love of life is prophet-like. If so, then we’re all prophets. If we realized our power, the power of loving, laughing, noticing and savoring, the world would surely change, one ordinary prophet at a time.


Sharon - headshotSharon Clymer Landis is a writer, poet, blogger (at Color My Soul) and spiritual director known for her simplicity, gentle wisdom, compassion and love of stories. Sharon believes writing and telling our stories brings healing, humor and moves humanity toward greater compassion and wholeness. She lives on multi-generational farm in Lititz, Pennsylvania, with her husband and family.

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3 Comments May 21, 2015

Upcoming Programs

  • Writing Into Bloom with Christine Valters Paintner
    • May 1, 2021
  • Revelations: The Mysticism of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe
    • May 13, 2021
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    • May 15, 2021 - May 16, 2021
  • View All Upcoming Programs

Recent Reflections

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