I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for John Spiesman’s reflection “Dream, Dream, Dream.” As noted by Christine Valters Paintner in The Soul’s Slow Ripening (Sorin, 2018), dreams were respected as signs and invitations from God to a calling bigger than our human mind could possibly imagine (p. 13). Dreams, as Christine notes, give us insight into the soul’s longings – and call us to say yes to gifts and calls which can only be born through us.  This is echoed by the Rev. Bob Haden in Unopened Letters from

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Laurel Pepin’s reflection, “My spiritual practice of receiving light.” In the beginning was light. The light of the universe, brought into being in an unimaginably short moment. Light and energy, energy and mass, in the beginning interchangeable. For me it’s all about the light. Light, the energy that holds together the particles, that hold together atoms, that holds together me. Light energy from supernovae, possibly the single source of matter that makes up stones, cardinals, seaweed, bone.

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Emily Lasinsky’s reflection “Being a Teacher-Monk in the World.”  My identity is deeply rooted in being a creator. Integrated within this identity are the roles of artist, writer, and teacher. At the time of writing this, I am starting to prepare my undergraduate psychology classes for the fall semester. For this post, I will share how I practice being a monk in the world as a teacher.  My philosophy of teaching, greatly influenced by Parker Palmer, Brené Brown,

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Rochelle Rawson Naylor’s reflection on grief and living with a loved one who has dementia. The journey of grief is often seen as beginning at a fixed point in time with a loved one’s death, whether after a long illness or occurring suddenly.  From that time forward, life is different – there is an emptiness – an inertia – an unremitting sadness.  Eventually, though, flashes of sunlight begin to appear and become more frequent.  The weight of grief grows

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Justin Coutts’ reflection “A Hermit’s Prayer for Beauty” which originally appeared on his website In Search of a New Eden. One of my favourite poems from the Celtic tradition is this little piece written by a monk who is fantasizing about how they would like to live in the wild and pray. One of the reasons I love it so much is because it is incredibly relatable. This is basically what I’ve been dreaming about for the

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series. Read on for Sharon Dawn Johnson’s reflection, “The Green-Beaded Branch.” ‘Mary as the greenest branch.’ At the moment of reading this startling phrase, an image of a green-beaded branch appears in my mind’s eye – and issues an invitation, “Bring me to life.” I’m intrigued by this new-to-me name for Mary, even though I’m already rooting in the green power of viriditas, the term coined by Hildegard of Bingen. The V-word constantly alerts me to the life-greening sap flowing in my body and