Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

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  • Books
    • 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
    • Music + DVD
    • Poetry by Christine Valters Paintner
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      • 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
    • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color Book Club
      • Embodied Spirits: Stories of Spiritual Directors of Color (Book Club – March 2021)
      • God Alone is Enough: A Spirited Journey with Teresa of Avila (Book Club – February 2021)
    • Community Online Retreats
      • 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
    • 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 (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: John Paul Lichon

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for John Paul Lichon's reflection entitled, Discipline.

Let’s be honest, I am not a very disciplined person.  Pulling all-nighters to write papers in college was a regular ritual, it took several unfortunate cavities to convince me it was essential to floss every day, and anyone close to me can tell you that I often have insatiable cravings for McDonald’s double cheeseburgers.  Thankfully, over the years all three of these unhealthy tendencies have drastically declined in frequency, but I think these habits illustrate my enduring inner struggle to cultivate discipline and self-control in many areas of my life.

When it comes to personal prayer, I have always labored to find a regular routine.  Pages upon pages of my journal speak of this constant tension to consistently carve out time and space for personal prayer.  And looking back at the journal entry dates, sometimes there are weeks, if not months, between entries of one of my favorite ways to pray.  Even though I know my body and soul yearns for a steady diet of silent, contemplative prayer, especially through writing, I often find it very hard to do on a consistent basis.

Personally, I love silence.  I remember once driving all the way from Dallas to Houston (over four hours) without ever turning on the radio or talking to anyone on the phone.  I often tell people that the quieter I am around you, the more comfortable I am with you.  In some ways, I think this is simply a sign of my introverted personality.  But on a deeper level, I know that silent contemplation is what grounds my relationship with God.  It’s often in these moments where I can most truly recognize God’s movement in my life, God’s next invitation for me to consider, or simply what I’m feeling as I come before God at that particular moment.  I just find it difficult to maintain a regular practice of physically sitting down and doing it.

My usual excuse is that we live in a world that constantly bombards us.  From family schedules to email inboxes, work expectations to financial worries, our lives are subject to a lot responsibilities, anxieties, and distractions.  Amidst this swirl of life’s concerns, who has time for one more thing?

Often, I get frustrated when I hear the typical suggestions offered to people like me.  “Start with a few minutes a day.  Carve out the same time and place.  Start small and in time you’ll come to master the routine.”  While it certainly sounds so easy, the truth is that it’s hard for me.  It takes work.  It takes discipline.  Commitment.

Looking in the proverbial mirror, I wonder if I have the resolve to live as a monk in the world.  I feel like I am trying, but am I really?  Is this the type of life that I want to live?  That I’m designed to live?

I scribbled this poem in my journal several months ago:

 

“Sleep when you’re dead,”

said the master to his slave.

Yet, rest gives rest,

to give rest, for the rest

of your life. All the days, that are consumed

with life, upon life, over life, filled with life.

Life needs rest, needs peace,

needs breath.

“I wonder if I’ve forgotten to breathe,” I said.

Or rather, should I say, “I can’t breathe.”

I don’t really know,

because life, within the life

of my life, seems lifeless.

Or is it?  Over-Lived – life-full – life-more – a rich life?

Those who give up their life,

are given life.

So whose life am I really living?

 

Every time I go down this vicious cycle of self-absorption, I am reminded of the true focus of prayer.  Prayer is not about me.  It’s not really about what I’m doing or not doing for God.  Rather, prayer is about God and what God has done and will continue to do for me and for us.  So often, I look in the rearview mirror of my prayer, rather than looking forward to the horizon.  Maybe if I focused forward, I could actually see the path that God is laying before me.


John Paul Lichon is the founder of Verso Ministries, a pilgrimage company seeking the path to true fulfillment by encountering and sharing sacred sites and stories of the world.  Learn more at www.VersoMinistries.com.

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Leave a Comment April 5, 2017

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
  • The Wisdom of Wild Grace: A Weekend Retreat Online
    • May 15, 2021 - May 16, 2021
  • View All Upcoming Programs

Recent Reflections

  • St. Kevin Holds Open His Hand and Radical Hospitality ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Monk in the World Guest Post: Greta Kopec
  • Monk in the World Podcast + Harriet Tubman Mysticism ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color – April Video Discussion and Book Group Materials Now Available
  • Hildy Tails 12: Is ait an mac an saol ~ by John Valters Paintner

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