Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

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    • About Christine Valters Paintner
    • About John Valters Paintner
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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)
  • Calendar
  • Reflections
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Monk in the World Guest Post Series

Monk in the World Guest Post: Nancy L. Agneberg

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Nancy L. Agneberg's reflection, "Release Busyness-Embrace Fullness."

One morning several years ago, while exercising at the gym, a friend, recently retired, shared that her daughter had tried to guilt her into setting aside her own plans to babysit yet again, “You're not busy. I don't see what the big deal is,” the daughter said to my friend, who was ambivalent about how to respond.

“Should I drop what I have planned to do with my day when she expects me to babysit? Of course I would, if there were an emergency, but I love the ways I can spend my time now that I am not teaching full time. I have waited for this open time.”

I shared with her conversations with my husband when I casually mentioned to that I didn't have enough time to read all the books on my shelf or explore all the writing ideas swirling in my head. He would throw his arm around my shoulders, chuckle and tease, “You're sooooo busy.” Even as I felt misunderstood, I wondered if I should do more, be more productive. Should I set aside my quiet days to appear more busy?

When I am busy, too busy, it seems to me, I am driven by the agendas of others, by made up work, by distractions that overshadow what I most need to do for the well-being of my body, mind, and spirit. When I am too busy, I flit from one frenetic activity to another. I sputter. I sink. I sandwich one more thing between items 23 and 24 on my TO DO list. Saying “yes,” without thinking, I salute myself for how valuable I am, how needed I am, and what a difference I make.

Living with fullness does not mean rushing around and filling every minute with activity. Instead, I think it means living with a sense of abundance and awareness of the richness in my life. Living with “fullness” means staying awake to the sacred in my life. Living with purpose and meaning. What keeps me grounded, rather than stuck? How is it I can best respond in life-enhancing ways? For myself and for others. Do I feel overwhelmed or more drained than energized? Is it time to pause? To breathe?

Or is it time to jump joyfully in a new direction?

I am the first to admit I have had a luxurious life. For many years I have not had to balance career and family. I am the steward of my work as a spiritual director and writer, shepherding the use of my own time. I have had time and space to explore and open. To shed busyness and adopt “fullness.”

Of course, some days the pace is faster, one thing happens on top of another, and immediate reaction is needed. I get that, and I am able to respond as needed. At the same time I note that many of the items on my To Do list are not different from the busiest of my days—paying bills, buying groceries, fixing meals, writing my blog posts and working on a book, meeting with my spiritual direction clients, preparing for church volunteer responsibilities, spending time with family and friends. You know – all the stuff of life—but my approach now that I am in my 70's is different.

My prayer is to welcome my life, move in my life, with my whole being, bringing all I am, all I have learned and continue to learn into my days. Now is not the time to withdraw from the gifts awaiting me or to distance myself from the ways I can share gifts. No, now is the time to appreciate and honor the fullness of life. That day in the gym all those years ago I congratulated my friend for her full life and her intentional separation from busyness. That resonated with her. Her shoulders relaxed. Her eyes got big, and her breath more even. I wasn't sure how my friend defined “full,” nor was I even sure about my own definition. What I did know was that we both sought to release the busyness of life and instead embrace the fullness of life.

Lives rich and full. Joyous and full. Alive and full.


Nancy L. Agneberg is living her Sacred Seventies fully and gratefully in her many roles, including mother, grandmother, spouse, friend, writer, spiritual director, hometender, voracious reader, walker of labyrinths. Read her perspectives on aging as a spiritual practice on her blog, ClearingTheSpace.blogspot.com

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Leave a Comment June 17, 2020

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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