To receive this love note straight to your in-box, subscribe here (and also receive a free gift!) Thanksgiving I have been trying to read the script cut in these hills— a language carved in the shimmer of stubble and the solid lines of soil, spoken in the thud of apples falling and the rasp of corn stalks finally bare. The pheasants shout it with a rusty creak as they gather in the fallen grain, the blackbirds sing it over their shoulders in parting, and gold leaf illuminates the manuscript where it is written in the trees. Transcribed onto my human

To receive this love note straight to your in-box, subscribe here (and also receive a free gift!) Wild Rosebush How it stands there against the dark of this late rainy hour, young and clean, swaying its generous branches yet absorbed in its essence as rose; with wide-open flowers already appearing, each unsought and each uncared-for…. So, endlessly exceeding itself and ineffably from itself come forth, it calls the wanderer, who in evening contemplation passes on the road: Oh see me standing here, see how unafraid I am and unprotected. I have all I need. —Rainer Maria Rilke Dearest monks and

To receive this love note straight to your in-box, subscribe here (and also receive a free gift!) Dearest monks and artists, The poem above has been shimmering for me, and at first I hesitated to share it here because we are entering the depths of winter in the northern hemisphere. But then I remembered my brother and sister monks in the southern hemisphere, who are experiencing this embrace of light and warmth.  I love that we have a global community and at any moment there is full spectrum of experience. This poem in praise of rose’s gifts shimmered because I

Dearest monks and artists, November is the month of remembrance of all the many saints of our lives.  It is a thin time in the Celtic imagination, when heaven and earth draw closer together. I spent the feasts of All Saints and All Souls at a small gathering at the monastery of  Clonmacnoise, once a great spiritual community and center of learning. During the Dark Ages, it was the Irish monks who brought inspiration and hope back to the continent of Europe. The question our gathering was exploring was whether this tradition of Celtic monasticism might today also offer light in

–Henri J. M. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey Dearest monks and artists, This is one of my favorite times of year with the darkening days of autumn and the spreading color across the trees.  I have long loved the wisdom of the Celtic Wheel of the Year, but living here in Ireland I experience the turning points more keenly.  In the Celtic tradition, August 1st was the feast of Lughnasa and the beginning of fall and the harvest season.  Here in Galway I could feel the light beginning its shift and the air grow cooler.  Summer offers endless days as we are

NEW 8th principle of the Monk Manifesto: *I commit to being a dancing monk, cultivating creative joy and letting my body and “heart overflow with the inexpressible delights of love.”* Dearest monks and artists, The 7th principle of the Monk Manifesto states: “I commit to a lifetime of ongoing conversion and transformation, recognizing that I am always on a journey with both gifts and limitations.” For me, this means, that everything is in process, everything is open to change, especially my own heart and understanding.  So it feels right and true that I would discover a longing to add another principle to