Invocation Let us try what it is to be true to gravity, to grace, to the given, faithful to our own voices, to lines making the map of our furrowed tongue. Turned toward the root of a single word, refusing solemnity and slogans, let us honor what hides and does not come easy to speech.  The pebbles we hold in our mouths help us to practice song, and we sing to the sea.  May the things of this world be preserved to us, their beautiful secret vocabularies.  We are dreaming it over and new, the language of our tribe, music

I am so delighted to run across this video, shared with me by my good friend and fellow monk Tess, who blogs over at Pilgrim’s Moon (a wonderful resource for growing older with wisdom and consciousness). Watch this and see if it doesn’t shift your perspective on distractions in meditation (or at least make you smile).  I love that the dog in this video looks just like our sweet Amma Winter.

I invited you the other day to offer a word which is calling to you for this coming year.  The responses have been so beautiful and inspiring (I encourage you to stop by and read them!) For some of you the word may have come right away, but for some you may desire a word to ripen within your soul these coming weeks and months, but one doesn’t seem to be coming.  So here are some suggestions for allowing a word to choose you: Release your thinking mind in this process, this isn’t about figuring out just the right word

As a monk in the world, I am always seeking support for this path.  Yesterday I just started reading The Contemplative Heart by James Finley which is about how to live contemplatively in the world beyond the monastery and already in the first forty pages is a great deal of wisdom. Finley describes three aspects to contemplative living in the midst of busy lives and work which were articulated beautifully: The first aspect is being as fully present as you can to the task at hand.  When you are working on something be fully mindful to it as you engage it and do only one thing at a time. 

I just love this.  The line speaking to my heart today (keeping in mind my post from yesterday) is “Dance until you’re sweating, and beads of perspiration remind you of life’s best things, down your back like a brook of blessings.” How about you?  Where are you finding the solace of solitude these late summer days? How to Be Alone by Tanya Davis If you are at first lonely, be patient. If you’ve not been alone much, or if when you were, you weren’t okay with it, then just wait. You’ll find it’s fine to be alone once you’re embracing it. We could start