Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

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      An Ancient Practice for the Everyday Sacred
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      Embracing an Intentional Way of Life
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      Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
    • Dreaming of Stones: Poems
    • The Soul's Slow Ripening:
      12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred
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      A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women
    • Illuminating the Way:
      Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics
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      Eight Practices for the Journey Within
    • Eyes of the Heart:
      Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice
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    • Desert Mothers and Fathers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Annotated & Explained
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      Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction
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    • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color Book Club
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      • God Alone is Enough: A Spirited Journey with Teresa of Avila (Book Club – February 2021)
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        with Christine Valters Paintner
      • Revelations: The Mysticism of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe
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        Aligning Body and Spirit Through
        Yoga and the Benedictine Way
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        An Online Retreat with St. Hildegard of Bingen
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        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)
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        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
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      • 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: Janice Burns-Watson

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series. Read on for Janice Burns-Watson's reflection on welcoming the stranger as a friend.

Too many years ago now than I want to admit, I was a young missionary in Kenya.  I was in my twenties, still inexperienced in life and as a minister.  But I was up to a challenge and excited about “experiencing life as most of the world lived it.”

To prepare for our time of service my then husband and I were sent to a site near Nairobi to learn Kiswahili prior to going out to where we would be serving for the next three years.  Part way through this training we decided to go out and explore our work location.  While we were there we were given the keys to what would be our home. The two keys were held together with a piece of electrical wire.  It was exciting and scary to receive these tokens that made our stay seem more permanent and real.  But the keys at that point seemed merely to be symbols and not really important.

On our way back to the learning center were we were staying our car died.  Here we were novices to the country who barely understood Kiswahili or any of the local languages and about all we knew is that our car had just died in an area we had been told was frequented by bandits.  We had no cell phone with us.  All I knew to do was to pray.  I don’t think I had even had time to put words to a prayer though before a car pulled up behind us.  I remember starting to heave a sigh of relief until I see who crawled out of the car.

Because the man who got out was huge.  He was well over six feet tall and very muscular.  Intimidating in and of itself.  But he also was wearing a turban and had a huge beard.  He was an Asian, as the Black Kenyans called Indians.  A Sikh, who seemed out of place in rural Kenya. It makes me feel horrible now, but I remember thinking that this man might be the end of me.  He very purposefully strode up to the car and asked us what the problem was and we timidly told him.  He told us to pop the bonnet, or hood, of the car, which we did. He tinkered around for a few minutes and then wanted to know if we might happen to have some electrical wire with us.  And yes, yes, we did!  (God provides in funny ways sometimes).  And he managed to get the car running, barely.  He told us that the car would likely die again shortly, so he would stay behind us to fix it again.  And he did, following our car for more than two hours as we limped back to Nairobi.  Fixing the car probably at least four more times.  Once we made it to the city he led the way for us to an auto mechanic who he knew fixed cars for the mission organization we were associated with.  Then he stayed with us until someone from that organization came to pick us up.

When we asked if we could pay him.  He seemed almost insulted and told us to simply remember his good deed the next time we saw someone stranded alongside the road.  To this day I think of him as my Sikh Angel.  The man who I originally thought was my enemy.

What I have grown to realize is that we all too often view those who are different from us as the enemy, when in actuality they are merely a stranger.  What we are called to do as a person of faith is to open our hearts, souls and minds to seeing the Divine Spark within each and every person we encounter.  When we are able to sincerely do that we discover the world is full of a lot more love and peace than we thought possible. And this grows with each person we meet, so that they become our brothers and sisters and no longer enemies.

St. Benedict seems to have understood this when he included the act of hospitality as one of the values we are called to live by.  Given the divisions that seem to be growing more and more prevalent in our world today, hospitality and love are traits we need to actively need to seek to grow within us.


Rev. Janice Burns-Watson is an ordained minister with dual standing with Christian Church (DOC) and United Church of Christ.  She has a certificate in Spiritual Direction and has done extensive missionary work.  She is the single mother of three wonderful kids and a dog.

 

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1 Comment February 7, 2018

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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