I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Linda Parrington’s reflection on being an instrument of good work. Keep Death Before One’s Eyes—Holy Rule of St. Benedict, 4:47 Mr. Smith is dying—actively dying. What a misnomer; Mr. Smith is not active at all. He is a deep shade of orange, cold and clammy to the touch. His legs and hands are mottled blue; his breathing is shallow, rapid and gurgling. He is not moving nor speaking. It is my role as a chaplain for a

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 “Confession: Naked and Unashamed.”  Prologue: We use the word confession in different ways. We confess things we believe: we confess Christ. We confess ignorance: maybe about technology, when we don’t understand it as well as we’d like. Jesus made the “the good confession” before Pilate. And we confess sin, admitting we got things wrong. I confess I don’t always like that last one. When a Lenten devotional recommended confession as a discipline, I squirmed.

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Kirsten Murray-Borbjerg’s reflection on God revealed through the stranger. I most often meet God as revealed through the stranger while dancing like a broken windup toy. Dancing is probably not a passion you would imagine a wheelchair user having. But I fell head over heels in love with dancing shortly after the mysterious illness causing me to fall head over heels for no reason at all was finally diagnosed. Despite chronic ill health my passion for music

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Cindy Steffen’s reflection, “Instead, a Monk.” As I reluctantly walked toward the massive wooden doors of the stone church, every exhausted cell in my body shouted, “I don’t want to be here! I don’t want to do this! I don’t want this life!” It had been just over two months since my husband, Craig, suddenly died of a pulmonary embolism. A month after his passing, we were scheduled to leave on a long-awaited Peregrination; a road trip

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Elaine Breckenridge’s reflection “Chickens and Kinship.” A few years ago, I signed the Monk Manifesto and pledged myself to “The Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks.” I took the commitment seriously and adopted the Manifesto as my new Rule of Life. Most recently, the Spirit has given me an opportunity to go more deeply into practicing point four: “I commit to cultivating an awareness of my kinship with creation and a healthy asceticism by discerning my use of

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Celeste Boudreaux’s reflection “Healing Art.” For Celeste I see you, though you try to hide Blending into the wall Daughter of a defective mother (Whose empty eyes betray her lipstick toothed smile) You lurk in the corner, timid and sad and skinny Child of a deceptive poverty Cinderella’s colorless little sister Dwelling in the big house, eating ashes Bearing in silence your public shame and private anguish Called to be the strong one, the good one Who

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Cathy Warner’s reflection “Two and a Half Horsepower Zen.” A few months ago I ran an extension cord across the backyard, plugged in my mini-wood chipper, dragged downed limbs and small dead trees into a pile, stood in a sunny spot, and fed branches one at a time into the hopper where a whirling blade chipped, shaved, bit, and spit the cedar, rhododendron, and maple into a heap of garden muesli. Often when gardening or cleaning house,