I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Katie Birkeland’s reflection imagining Judas’ point of view at the Last Supper.  I have found putting myself into a Bible story is a powerful way to connect with the message that God has for me.  I recently spent some time in the story of the Last Supper as if I were Judas and recognized in myself the tension between following my flesh—betrayal toward Jesus–  and falling into his ever present and pursuing arms.  This is where my

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Kathy Roy’s submission “Gentle Spirits.” Stepping out my front door for an early morning walk has become a spiritual practice over the years.  This morning, the sky is a deep inky blue and as I step out of my house, my eyes are drawn to the brilliant glow of the moon shining through the branches of pine trees.  Dawn has not yet broken the dark of the night and the moon has a circle of light radiating

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Karen Harris’ reflection, “Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down.” What I have discovered at this spiritually scholastic portal is that the profundity of life is equal to the level of “play” in which you are willing, and led, to engage.  This can only be accomplished when you find and then put yourself in the hands of accomplished and genuine people you have learned to trust and love.  Having found these people- I wished to send a thank you email

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Christina Campbell’s reflection “Finding a Place of Belonging.” As a self-proclaimed “mountain gal,” moving to Iowa 12 years ago was more than a career move but rather one to preserve our family unit. We moved to the prairie from the mountains of Montana to focus on family as we’d been rushing here and there with two full-time, intense careers and 3 young children spending more time with other families or daycare than they did at home. My

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Karen Luke Jackson’s reflection “Lovers of God: Free Women.” A ten-foot wall separated the small red brick retreat house from the forty-year-old monastery, home to cloistered nuns in Greenville, South Carolina. Sister Mary waved as I pulled into the driveway. She wore a tan tunic belted at her waist with a rope. Her hair, cropped short and combed away from her face, hinted of gray. I guessed she was in her early fifties, a few years older