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Reflections

Category: Abbess love notes

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Winter Solstice: An Invitation to Deep Rest ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, This Friday, December 19th we are delighted to offer the Deep Rest Winter Solstice mini-retreat to help you slow down and savor the gifts of this time of year as we wait for the tipping point of darkness to light in the northern hemisphere and from light to darkness in the southern.  I love the quiet invitation of this time of year to descend into stillness. There is a primordial invitation to listen in the heart of the fertile darkness. Imagine the ancient Celtic people – over 5,000 years ago – constructing the many stone monuments that

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December 14, 2025

The Wisdom of Mary ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, During Advent we consider Mary in a special way, especially her role as the one who birthed Jesus into the world. This image of birthing the holy has long been close to my heart.  Our featured self-study retreat for December is the companion retreat to my book Birthing the Holy in which I explore 31 archetypes and images of Mary. Simon, Jamie, and I will also be leading a contemplative prayer service tomorrow on the theme of Mary as Mirror of Justice.  Here is an excerpt from the book: Mary appears throughout the Gospels, most notably at the beginning

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December 7, 2025

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