I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Anne Knorr’s reflection, “The Gift of Pilgrimage.” Arriving in Porto, Portugal with carry-on luggage in tow and feeling the anticipation of the adventure awaiting mixed with the fatigue and grogginess from jetlag, my traveling companion and I wandered through the modern airport where large expanses of glass let the warm Portuguese sunlight fill the space and exposed metal beams arched across the ceiling above. We rolled our twin red GoLite bags across the sleek gray tiled floor in

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World Guest Post series from the community. Read on for Rita Simon’s reflection, “Finding Treasures in Aimlessness.” For where your treasure is, there your heart will be. ~ Matthew 6:21 Walk and touch peace every moment. Walk and touch happiness every moment. Each step brings a fresh breeze. Each step makes a flower bloom under your feet. ~Thich Nhat Hahn I grew up the eldest of nine children in a small Wisconsin town. My mother did not drive until she finally got her license at age 60,

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Ted Witham’s reflection “Knocked for Six.” In the Australian idiom, I was ‘knocked for six’ last year by my first encounter with depression and anxiety. The mental illness shook me from my center. I closed down emotionally and physically, and only after six or eight weeks of gentle care from physician and psychiatrist I began again to find some equilibrium. One of my practices that was ‘knocked for six’ was my decades-long engagement with the Scriptures through

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Pat Butler’s reflection, “The Secret Place Studio.”  “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”—Matthew 6:6 Just as an artist needs a quiet studio to practice his or her discipline, a monk in the world needs a quiet studio to pray. We might call it a cell or prayer closet; I prefer to think

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Nancy Joan Brighid neé Muire’s reflection “Lessons in Humility.” Most of my life I thought I was successfully managing to get and then control what I wanted. Money was coming in, I owned my home. I had a husband. Then in 2010, disaster struck. By 2012, I was divorced and living on my own. I had bought a home and small acreage in southwestern Colorado and was managing it as a homestead farm. I had a sweetheart,

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Becky Rische’s reflection on paying attention to nature and the divine. Quieted by nature, I can sometimes better hear that God-given voice showing me what is mine to do.  Noticing who I am, how I am, and where I am when this happens, gives me guidance on how to hear and see and follow God at other times. For instance, right now I’m writing this from a dear friend’s cabin in the mountains. I planned to leave

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Pat Leyko Connelly’s reflection, “Cleaning as a Contemplative Practice.” My husband and I retired and moved from Northern New Jersey to Weston, Vermont seven years ago. I had spent most of my career in parish ministry and my husband was a teacher. After almost 40 years of visiting and making retreats at Weston, Priory, a Benedictine Monastery in Southern Vermont, we knew in our hearts that this was where we wanted to retire. Our friendship with the