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Reflections

Category: Abbess love notes

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Advent Invitations ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, Today the sacred season of Advent begins! We stand at the threshold of a potent time when we are invited to move inward to listen to the Divine presence in a deeper way and then stand in the wonder of holy birthing for the Christmas season.  Thresholds are powerful times to listen anew for the whispers of the holy in your life and how you are being invited to move and breathe and have your being.  I love doors and portals and what they represent.  While I have mixed feelings about New Year’s resolutions,

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November 30, 2025

Returning from Sabbatical ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, My time of sabbatical from teaching is come to a close. During my writing time I was able to complete two manuscripts: a fourth collection of poetry titled What Enters Through the Open Heart (to be published by Monkfish Publishing in fall 2026) and a book of devotions for the Easter season about practicing resurrection (to be published by Broadleaf Books in spring 2027). I also completed the final edits for A Book of Everyday Blessings: 100 Prayers for Dancing Monks, Pilgrims, and Artists (being published by Ave Maria Press in February 2026!) And of course my newest

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November 23, 2025

Crossing Identity Boundaries ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, We are delighted to welcome Dr. Luther E. Smith, Jr. who will lead the Crossing Identity Boundaries: Where Hope Enlivens Us to Life retreat this Friday, November 21st. Luther offers this reflection. The spiritual journey takes us to our hearts and the hearts of others as we pursue and experience the beloved community that God dreams for us. The journey entails crossing identity boundaries—the boundaries of other persons, and our reception of persons crossing our identity boundary. Encouraging journeys across identity boundaries is the work of hope. The retreat will highlight exercises (things we can do) to clarify our own identity

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November 16, 2025

The Love of Thousands ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, My book, The Love of Thousands, came out two years ago because of my deep belief in the presence, support, and witness of the angels, saints, and ancestors.  At its foundation, it is a journey of opening our hearts to the love of all those sacred beings who dwell in spiritual form across the veil. Our western minds may tell us that what we see is all there is, but the religious and mystical imagination knows a deeper truth. Various religious traditions have taught about the existence of angels, saints, and ancestors for millennia. The

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November 9, 2025

The Interconnectedness of All Things ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, We are entering what the ancient Celtic tradition calls the dark half of the year. The feasts of Samhain, All Saints’, and All Souls’ Day coincide as we make a journey of descent into the gifts of darkness. Tomorrow, November 3rd, Simon de Voil and Polly Paton-Brown will lead our Contemplative Prayer Service on the theme of Mycelium.  Mycelium is the beautiful, root-like, branching, underground network of fungal systems that act, in part, as a communication highway for plants. Trees in particular communicate with one another through this mycorrhizal network, sharing information essential to their health and the health

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November 2, 2025

Samhain and the Grace of Descent ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, We live in times when it often feels like everything is coming undone. The Celtic hinge points of Autumn Equinox, Samhain, the Winter Solstice, and Imbolc offer the wisdom of living into a rhythm that honors the importance of times of rest as essential to our personal and collective wellbeing. This Friday, October 31st begins the Feast of Samhain. Simon de Voil, Jamie Marich, and Polly Paton-Brown will lead us in a mini-retreat to deepen into the wisdom of the season. Samhain marks one of the two great doorways of the Celtic year. The Celts divided the

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October 26, 2025

Spiral of the Work ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, We are so delighted to be welcoming Lydia Violet and Te Martin who will lead an online program based on The Work That Reconnects, created by Joanna Macy, on Tuesdays from October 21st – November 11th. This work is so vital in our challenging times, offering us a pathway to be able to name our gratitude, process our grief, be inspired, and offer ourselves in service.  The following is an excerpt from Coming Back to Life: The Updated Guide to the Work That Reconnects:  The Spiral of the Work Over the years, we have come to

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October 19, 2025