A Blessing for Trust in Abundance*
Spirit of generous abundance,
remind us there is always more than enough,
enough food, enough love, enough time, enough resources.
Help us to see how our patterns of living
separate and disconnected amplifies our scarcity.
Bring us into the joy and challenge of community
where bread divided multiplies, where laughter shared overflows.
Empower us to share freely from our own abundance
with others in need. Slow us down to see how time expands
when we breathe and pay attention.
Bless us in our efforts to trust
in the goodness and love that pulses through the world
sustaining it moment by moment.
Give us the courage to speak out
when resources are distributed unfairly,
so we may remind others there is more to share.
Encourage us to release that which we no longer
need to hold onto so tightly.
Inspire us to live in a way that witnesses
to our trust in the lavish fullness of life.
Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims,
This is a special week for my husband John and me. On September 3rd we celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary! John is actually working with a theater production in Galway all this week, so we plan to take some time away later this month to celebrate fully.
I have been engaged in contemplative practice and retreat work for 30 years as well (the year John and I got married I started teaching theology at a Catholic high school in Sacramento and was co-campus minister). This past May we celebrated 18 years since Abbey of the Arts was founded and we are already planning ahead to our 20th year and what special gifts and celebrations we might offer.
I have been contemplating harvest a lot lately and what comes from endurance and steadiness, staying the course over a long span of time. I am beyond grateful to recognize this rich harvest over the course of my marriage, my professional life, as well as my own contemplative journey. (As part of our 20th year we hope to tell this story in more fullness).
When I started Abbey of the Arts, it was initially a blog to share my reflections on the contemplative life and a way for me to untrain myself from academic writing! After working several years to earn a PhD I discovered academic life wasn’t where my heart was. I wanted to engage with people and their lived experience. I still have a strong scholarly heart and love to bring that in service of opening up ancient wisdom for our current lives and world.
Over the years, the Abbey has grown, mostly by word of mouth. We often have people join us who say their spiritual director or pastor or friend pointed them our way, and that is the highest compliment we could receive.
One of the gifts of steadiness over time is the amazing group of artists and teachers we have been blessed to partner with. Many of them are on our Wisdom Council, or offering retreats and programs, or part of our prayer cycles. This community of kindred souls longing to offer this inclusive vision of a place to celebrate slow rhythms and creative expression is a wonder to me still. Add in our amazing dancing monks who show up with such open-heartedness, kindness, appreciation, care, and a desire to be a force for Love in the world, each day I am grateful. You are each in my prayers every morning. You help to sustain and nourish me when things feel hard or challenging.
At Abbey of the Arts, in addition to being a place to nourish our contemplative hearts and creative visions, and in addition to being a welcoming and inclusive place for everyone who desires to live this path of Love, is also fiercely committed to financial inclusivity. We strive to make all our programs accessible to anyone who wants to join us, regardless of financial means. We have a sliding scale fee lower than many other similar programs and also full scholarships available.
If you have the means to support us financially, we invite you to consider joining our Sustainers Circle for 2024-2025. This is one way to help keep our programs affordable while also allowing us to pay a living wage to the many artists and teachers we partner with. Please read over the options available for this support.
If you prefer to make a one-time donation or a recurring donation without receiving programs in return, please visit this page for more details.
For those of you who don’t have financial means right now, please know there are so many other ways you can support what we do. Your presence is a gift in itself, truly. Your words of appreciation for our programs inspire us. When you tell a friend about our work, you light a spark. Your positive reviews on my books left at Amazon, Goodreads, and other online booksellers is another free way to help this work continue to thrive. Thank you.
The harvest is rich and plenty. The banquet table is piled high with sweet fruits. A spirit of generosity pervades the air and says a powerful “no” to all the forces that tell us we do not have enough or that we need to hoard to survive. We are so grateful for all the ways you practice your generosity with us and with the world.
With great and growing love,
Christine
Christine Valters Paintner, OblSB, PhD, REACE
*Blessing written by Christine for a book of blessings (due to be published in spring 2026)
