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Reflections

Category: Monk in the World Guest Post Series

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Christina Lelache

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Christina Lelache’s reflection and photo essay on the community of wildflower saints. Early in 2022, I began to feel a need for a new way to connect with God on Sunday mornings. My point of contact for many years had been through attending worship at church, often in a leadership role. I had stepped away from attending Sunday services when I began my leave of absence from pastoral ministry, and although my spirit breathed a sigh of

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Jason M. Deutsch

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Jason M. Deutsch’s reflection and poem “Whispers Beneath the Sacred Tree.” “Men, driven by fear, go to many a refuge, to mountains and forests, to groves and sacred trees,” said the Buddha. “But that is not a safe refuge … a man is not delivered from all pains after having gone to that refuge.” It’s very tempting to envision a life without any external noise or disruption. But to be a monk in the world seems to

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Jodi Blazek Gehr

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Jodi Blazek Gehr’s reflection on gratitude, wonder, and the sweet spot of life. As a Benedictine Oblate of a monastic community about 90 minutes from home, driving the country roads of the Nebraska “Bohemian Alps” to St. Benedict Center has become part of my contemplative practice. Sometimes I drive in silence, curious about the old homes and barns that have fallen into disrepair, soaking in the beauty of the gentle, rolling hills, captured by the neat rows of corn

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Anne Barsanti

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Anne Barsanti’s reflection The Quiet. I crave the quiet of a new morning. I’ve always been an early riser and am frequently astonished by the breadth of the day before it unfolds. There is so much, yet so little time. I also crave stillness of mind and heart. Mostly I find this in long-distance running, swimming, and walking. For me, the stillness does not mean being sedentary. Moving meditation comes to mind as we flow in yoga,

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Susan Fish

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Susan Fish’s reflection on meeting Jesus by a cedar tree. Imagine walking to a river, my spiritual director says. Sit with Jesus and place your concerns in the water for God to carry. I see myself resting among the exposed roots of a cedar tree, leaning back as the psalmist does in Psalm 131, like a weaned child against its mother. I begin to pray in this way. The next summer, my husband and I visit Lake

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Monk in the World guest post: Kathleen Deyer Bolduc

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Kathleen Deyer Bolduc’s reflection In My Own Backyard. One of my most powerful contemplative practices is to ask God for a dream when I am unsure of which way to turn. God always gives me an answer, sometimes in surprising ways.  In the midst of health challenges that include debilitating fatigue, I’ve been seeking to discern what’s next for Cloudland, the contemplative retreat center I run with my husband. It’s becoming very difficult to design and facilitate retreats

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Eleanor Albanese

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to our Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Eleanor Albanese’s reflection Where Creativity and Spirituality Meet. My work as a practicing artist has evolved over the decades. The deeper I enter my spiritual practices, the less separation I see between spirituality, creativity, and community. I especially notice this in the way that I engage with the community. Audiences have become participants, the stage is now a forest or park or meeting place, and stories are reciprocated between participants and performers. The projects have breathing space

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