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
    • 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
    • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color Book Club
    • 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)
      • 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: Marlene Kropf

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Marlene Kropf's reflection on practices of solitude, shared prayer, and contemplative walking.

Monasteries are favored retreat spaces for my husband and me.  When we travel, we seek out monastic communities along the way and sometimes book a couple of retreat nights in the midst of our itinerary.  Whether in the United States, Canada, Scotland, England, or Ireland, we’ve enjoyed warm hospitality and peaceful, beautiful settings in many communities of prayer.  Usually we spend our days in solitude – praying, journaling, resting, eating mindfully, and walking in the monastic gardens, nearby forests, or along rivers or shorelines.  At the end of the day we share an hour of reflective conversation, discerning together how we’ve been moved by the Spirit.

Because of the ways we are nourished by solitude and communal prayer, we look for ways to incorporate monastic rhythms into our everyday life.  One way we do this is by sharing morning prayer together, using a variety of Daily Office guides from contemplative communities.  We pause after breakfast to sing a chant, listen to sacred texts, and offer our prayers of thanksgiving and intercession as the day begins.

Recently we’ve engaged in a new practice:  contemplative walking in a nearby nature reserve.  With 150 acres of Northwest woodlands and gardens, Bloedel Reserve, located on Bainbridge Island (WA), offers a welcoming environment for prayer and contemplation.  With an annual membership, we are able to visit regularly – many times with guests but often by ourselves.  When it’s just the two of us, we take advantage of the opportunity to engage in a contemplative walking retreat.  For us, that means strolling through the gardens in silence, opening ourselves to sights and sounds unfolding along the way:  ducks and geese floating peacefully on a pond, the unfurling of ferns in springtime, a profusion of colorful blossoms along the trail, reflections of passing clouds in a reflecting pool, sunlight dancing on textured moss and tree bark, birdsong drifting above us, and a panoramic view of the waters of Puget Sound. Each season brings new delights.

Beyond absorbing the beauty and wonder of this special place, we listen deep within for the Spirit’s voice of comfort, guidance, and challenge.  At the end of our walk, we pause to talk with each other about what we’ve seen and heard.  We return home with hearts and bodies refreshed.

Though we can’t always get away to a monastery, the practices of solitude, shared prayer, and contemplative walking can enliven ordinary life with the same kind of awareness we experience when visiting a monastic community.


Marlene Kropf, who lives in Port Townsend, Washington, is a spiritual director, retired seminary professor, and ordained Mennonite minister.  For the past twenty years she has regularly led Celtic Pilgrimages to sacred sites in Scotland, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.  She and her husband Stanley enjoy contemplative walking.

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Leave a Comment August 15, 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

  • Monk in the World Guest Post: Reverend Deb Goldman
  • A mini-poetry reading from Christine plus other publishing news
  • 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

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