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
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  • 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)
    • Community Online Retreats
      • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color
      • The Way of the Hermit:
        A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times
        with Kayleen Asbo, PhD
      • 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: Beth Fritsch

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Beth Fritsch's reflection on Going into Garberville:

Recently while on a silent seven-day retreat at the Cistercian Redwoods Monastery in Whitethorn, CA , I had a strong urge on the afternoon of day four to take myself into Garberville to enjoy an artist’s date in this quaint town nestled on the Lost Coast.  The more I thought about it the night before, the better I liked the idea too.  I found myself chanting soothingly, “I am going into Garberville.”  Before setting out for lauds the next day, I read the day’s readings in my Give Us This Day.  The gospel created an obstacle to my plans.  “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch” the challenge of the text boomed, breaking through as it so often does, demanding my response.  It is not that going into Garberville is a bad thing, not at all.  I am fed and my soul is nourished deeply by beauty, art, music, books, poetry and other artisans, all of which awaited me in Garberville.  I decided to resist (who knew this trait could be put to a good use!).  After all, I do have the essential freedom to “go into Garberville” with some blessed frequency in my life, praise God.  And this phrase will now become a metaphor in my spiritual life.  When I have the urge to “go into Garberville” I am actually longing for a dose of what comforts me most.  Saturate me in the sameness of what I am used to!  Give me the joy of what I have come to know as soothing and soul assuring!  For me, the experience of going into Garberville is like taking a long, cool drink of water that quenches my soul spaces at a very satisfying depth.  This gives me strength for the journey and sustains me over the long haul.  To say that such an experience is essential to my soul life is hardly adequate or sufficiently vivid.

In contrast, the challenge to go deep, to head for deep water feels unfamiliar and the very opposite of soothing.  But on this day, I hunkered down instead and the deep water pulled me in. Deep called unto deep.  I discovered fears in my boat, which though I recognized them, spoke to me differently, less urgently but in a more pleading way.  I also named my net and made a huge act of trust to cast my net into the very deep waters of my as-yet-unknown.  This was not how I had planned to spend my day!  Nonetheless, I was able to course correct, a necessary skill for any monk-in-the-world and to submit to the grace of the moment, an equally important tool of navigation.

Going into Garberville and heading for deep water are two compelling and necessary movements in the spiritual life of any monk-in-the-world.  On my retreat, I discovered that both of these activities are necessary to live fully and deeply.  It was the Word of God that pushed me out of my comfort zone on this day and dared me to spend time in my deep waters. I was already acquainted with my fears.  What surprised me was the defeatist assertion that I also held very little hope of any yield to my benefit in this deep water.  Fortunately, grace offered an opening for a course correction and a ladder for me to step up to receive this gift.  I made a collage of this experience as best I could to memorialize this insight for myself.  I also added “going into Garberville” to my spiritual lexicon.  As for my deep waters, I am swimming here comfortably now.  Having made my act of trust, I find it necessary to hang out in these waters for awhile to try find soothing comfort here as well.  My net is strong and elastic, capable of holding ample bounty.  Funny things, my fears, after being heard, are in the waters with me, swimming alongside me.  My lack of hope for any yield in my deep waters has been replaced by a quiet assertion that this plunge is necessary and dynamically generative.  I now remind myself to look for soul sustenance in places that at first seem unlikely.  I feel the stabilizing soul-effect too of being able to enjoy both of these movements by the simple act of offering hospitality to each of them as they arise.

And you?  Have you been to Garberville recently? Have you taken a plunge into your very deepest waters?  I encourage you, dear monks, to respond to both of these summons with the frequency of joyful balance.


Beth.jpgBeth Fritsch is a writer in community in Cincinnati, Ohio, a poet and a soul midwife and an Oblate of St. Scholastica Monastery – Fort Smith, AR.

 

 

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1 Comment March 30, 2016

Upcoming Programs

The Way of the Hermit:
A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times

January 22-24, 2021
with Kayleen Asbo, PhD

The Spiral Way:
Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination

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

Recent Reflections

  • 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
  • Hildy Tales One: Dia dhuit, is mise Hildy! by John Valters Paintner, Your Online Prior

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