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
    • Subscribe to Our Love Notes
    • Website privacy notice
  • 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
    • Walk the Ancient Paths: Pilgrimage
      • Monk in the World (Ireland)
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Poetry and the Sacred Garden of the World (Ireland)
      • Vienna Monk in the World (Austria)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
    • Live Programs and Spiritual Retreats
      • 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)
      • Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life (Spring 2021)
    • 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

Wisdom Council: Guest Post from Michael Moore

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission from one our newest Wisdom Council members. Read on for Michael Moore's "Reflections on the Contemplative Life."

What is Contemplative Life? When I first became aware of the term, I associated it with Monks and Nuns in Monasteries and Convents who lived in relative isolation from the outside world. To be honest, I didn’t really see how it could apply to me during my 21 years as a US Air Force Chaplain. That understanding began to turn during the last three years I was in the Air Force. I found myself going through a divorce and a crisis of faith. I was also becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Chaplain Corps and was trying to discern what was next. As I faced retirement and the next step (going back into the church as a pastor) I found myself spending time on the Gulf listening to the waves crashing ashore. During that time, living alone, I had plenty of time in the silence. However, at that point in my life, silence was threatening because in that silence I had to face myself and all my fears and failures. Over time and with healing, silence became less of a threat and more of a comfort to me. Photography slowly became a method of contemplation in this journey of life.

I received my first camera when I was twelve years old. It was a hand-me-down from my Mom. Over the years I took hundreds of pictures, but it was only to document the “where I have been and what we have seen” moments. As I faced the changes and challenges before me, I began to see photography as something more than just compiling pictures. This was an incredibly slow process for me as I allowed my perspective to change. It wasn’t until I took a course on Thomas Merton and sat with some of his pictures in the Chapel during worship that I began to see how the Contemplative life could be expressed in a way that was familiar to me. Thanks to Thomas Merton and our own dear Abbess Christine, photography is becoming a lens for receiving what God offers and an opportunity to simply Be Still.

Life rushes on for so many people today. My wife Denise and I love to go hiking in our backyard, the Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado. On the trails and roadways, we see so many people rushing by us to check some item off their list before scurrying off frantically to capture their next moment. Last Fall, we were intentionally hiking off the main trail and simply breathing in the atmosphere and stillness of the moment. As we walked, we were both taking pictures and simply receiving what God had for us in those moments. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted antlers in the brush. We were in the presence of a mature Bull Moose who was taking a siesta underneath a tree. From a safe distance we spent the next 45 minutes communing with our new friend. He knew we were there as we acknowledged him, but the calm of the moment invited the three of us to simply Be Still. As he rose to leave, he looked at us and stood still so we could receive some wonderful images with our cameras. If we had been rushing through the park as so many of our visitors do, we would have missed out on this sacred moment.

The idea of the contemplative life has been transformed from my initial thoughts years ago that I related at the beginning of this blog. That is part of the beauty of the invitation offered by Abbess Christine and the Abbey of the Arts community. Being invited to become Monks in the World is an invitation to slow down amid the frantic hurry and scurry of life today. It is an invitation to simply Be Still in the moment and breathe in what the Spirit is offering us. It is an opportunity to see and experience life in a different way.

After two funerals on a recent Friday and Saturday and worship and a meeting after worship, even though I was exhausted, Denise and I went into the Park with our cameras. Our godson and his girlfriend were visiting and so we wanted to help them enjoy Rocky. As cars whizzed by us, we drove slowly and intentionally until we received the gift of a moment with another Bull Elk who was busy resting and re-growing his antlers. We received, in that moment, a treasured gift. This is a lifelong learning process for me as it is for each one of us. In the midst of more Hospice visits and meetings at church, I need to remind myself again and again to slow down for a moment. In that moment, to take a sacred pause and simply Be Still. That, dear reader, is the gift of the contemplative living!


Michael Moore is a retired USAF Chaplain and pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA) who currently lives in Estes Park, Colorado with his wife and partner in life and ministry, Denise. His undergraduate degree is in Business Administration (University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire) and he earned his Master of Divinity degree from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities (Saint Paul, MN). He served two small yoked Presbyterian Churches in rural Fergus Falls, MN for three years before going on Active Duty with the USAF for 21 years. Following his retirement, he served a church in Florida for four years before going to his current call in Estes Park in 2015. He has a Certificate in Christian Spiritual Formation from Columbia Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. A writer and photographer, you can find him blogging at ScotsIrishPadre.blog or at GodSpaceLight.com as a member of that community.

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Leave a Comment June 5, 2019

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

  • 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
  • Celebrate the Earth Monastery Prayer Cycle podcast with us!

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