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
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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: Sibyl Reynolds

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Sibyl Reynolds' reflection Gifts from Mary and Martha: Sacred Practices for a Recollected Life.

Many people today are experiencing a call to live a contemplative life. The human spirit longs for peace, serenity, connection with the Holy One, and a return to the Self. In the midst of the tsunami of countless daily demands and the immediacy of email, social media, and information overwhelm, the contemplative heart awaits nourishment and intimacy with the Divine.

Myriad responsibilities and life’s frenetic pace, fragment the psyche and soul. Meanwhile, the spirit gravitates to the blessed moments of pause and exhale, the space that connects one action with the next. These illuminated instances of “in-between” hold the potential for spiritual and creative refreshment.

The contemplative heart and spirit may take comfort through the revisiting of ancient wisdom stories that hold guidance for our contemporary challenges. The spiritual guidebook, The Way of Belle Coeur: A Woman’s Vade Mecum, offers a valuable teaching for today through the exploration of Luke’s story of sisters, Mary and Martha, and their archetypal qualities.

The story of Jesus’s visit with the sisters of Bethany, provides direction for contemplative and active living. Mary and Martha are two sides of the same coin. Their conflict and contrast between the reflective needs of contemplative Mary, with her sister, Martha the doer, illustrate a timeless dilemma applicable for the here and now. The following passage from Scripture recounts the sisters’ story.

Luke 10:38-42

As they traveled, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him to her home. She had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at Jesus’ feet and listened to his words.

Martha who was busy with all the details of hospitality, came to Jesus and said, “Rabbi, don’t you care that my sister has left me all alone to do the household tasks? Tell her to help me!”

Jesus replied, “Martha, Martha! You’re anxious and upset about so many things, but only a few things are necessary—really only one. Mary has chosen the better part, and she won’t be deprived of it.”

Mary and Martha’s story reflects the inner struggle that many today seek to resolve. Their archetypal spirits live within us. However, it’s often easier to identify with inner Martha’s frenetic busyness and management of the endless details and tasks of daily life, rather than inner Mary’s peaceful and reflective countenance.

In their story, Mary is perceived by Martha to be somewhat lazy and unconcerned regarding what she “should be doing.” Mary, unlike her busy sister, chooses prayerful awareness through her practices of contemplation and her ministry of “presence.”

When Mary and Martha are considered as personal archetypes, a question arises: How is it possible to maintain spiritual and creative balance while multi-tasking in today’s fast paced, technological, and demanding world?

Daily responsibilities definitely call for Martha’s sense of duty, organizational skills, and intentional action in the outer world. Meanwhile, the soul yearns to join Mary for prayer and contemplation, to experience the still and grace-filled terrain of the inner world.

Perhaps the way to lasting inner and outer harmony is through the conscious, sacred, indwelling partnership of Mary and Martha. Inner Mary and Martha must make peace with one another and honor and respect their two distinct charisms: Mary, the introverted, reflective, and prayerful, contemplative, and Martha, the extroverted, diligent, and active, taskmaster.

Through sacred awareness and the commitment to daily sacred practices, it’s possible to encourage the archetypal presence of Mary and Martha to work together. Their collaboration increases the potential to bring balance to life’s aspects of being and doing.

The weave of Mary’s prayerful and reflective focus with Martha’s task mastery, creates a harmonious tapestry of seeming disparate pieces. The fragmented spirit becomes recollected as Mary’s grounded and contemplative nature supports Martha’s energetic response to situations as they arise. The two aspects of the Self, the contemplative and the doer, join together to complete the unending and diverse array of tasks that comprise contemporary life through prayerful commitment and sacred intention.

You’re invited to explore the following prompts in your journal:

  • How does your contemplative nature receive sustenance and nourishment?
  • What are the sacred practices you observe to honor your inner Martha and Mary?
  • How would it feel to begin to live your “recollected life,” in balance and cadence with your contemplative nature?

Sacred practices such as: silence and contemplation, prayer and devotion, study and reflection, etc. inspire, nourish, and recollect the fragmented body, mind, and spirit. Additionally, the incorporation of (active and contemplative) sacred practices incorporated throughout each day, offer pathways to wholeness and renewed ways of living and being. In this way, the inner Mary and Martha unite to experience a blessed and recollected life.


In my heart of hearts, I'm a monastic and contemplative. Nostalgia and melancholia feed my writer's spirit. I put pen to paper and await the story. Prayer is a river running through each day. I dwell in the Mystery while I ache to inhabit and know the ancient time and place that lives within a memory, hidden deep inside my bones.

As the founder of the Sisters of Belle Coeur, I am inspired by the sacred wisdom within women's stories and the blessings of sisterhood. Christ, the Beloved, is at the center of my life, my compass, and True North. I draw sustenance from the writings of the early feminine saints and mystics such as; St. Hildegard of Bingen, St. Teresa of Avila, and the Beguine, Mechtild of Magdeburg. My intention through my work is to serve as a midwife for our planet's rebirthing. I can imagine no greater privilege.

Sibyl is the author of the award-winning novel, Ink and Honey, and the companion guidebook, The Way of Belle Coeur: A Woman’s Vade Mecum. She is a spiritual director. For thirty years Sibyl has been a facilitator for the feminine spiritual/creative process. She lives in California with her husband.   

sibyldanareynolds.com     bellecoeur.com     sibyl@bellecoeur.com

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Leave a Comment June 21, 2017

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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