I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Sue Schuerman’s reflection “Language of the Land.” My earliest companion was the natural world. Ocean, sand, orange trees, seashells, sea gulls, and chameleons—all spoke to me in a language that I didn’t understand at the time. Sixty years later I’m just beginning to comprehend the wisdom these natural teachers have to offer. Under the dappled shade of orange trees, behind my grandparents’ home, where I played as a child, I had a Place. Tucked in behind the leaves

I am delighted so share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post from the community. Read on for Abbey Assistant Melinda Thomas‘ reflection on statio is adapted from her book Sacred Balance: Aligning Body and Spirit Through Yoga and the Benedictine Way. In the days before my son was born, my centering routine looked very different than it does today. I would rise early, read a daily meditation for lectio divina, journal, spend an hour or so in asana, and then move about my day. I’d stop working around four o’clock in the afternoon, walk the

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series. Read on for acclaimed translator Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s reflection “Translatio Divina: Transformative Soul-Body-Self-Mind Practice.” Her book Practice of the Presence: A Revolutionary Translation is our featured book for June in the Lift Every Voice Book Club. Contemplative practices like lectio, scriptio, and visio divina help us slow down and, as Mary Oliver says, “Pay attention.” To these I’d like to add translatio divina or embodied mindfulness in translating. Recently translatio divina steeped me in the joyful spirituality of the soup-stirring, dish-washing, and sandal-mending contemplative I call the friar of amour: Brother Lawrence.