I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Rich Lewis’ reflection on centering prayer. On workdays my first centering prayer sit is at 5:45 a.m. I always feel some anxiety after I wake. Then I retreat to the basement, light a candle, and sit on a couch. It wakes me up. The anxiety fades. It fills me with interior peace and energizes me for the day. I use the Contemplative Outreach phone app. The timer is set for twenty minutes. I read the opening prayer.

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Elizabeth Brady’s reflection “The Slow Unfurling of a Fiddlehead.” When I reflect on the question of how I live as a monk in the world I think of a fiddlehead. It is a delightful word to say and invites the inevitable question: what is a fiddlehead? A fiddlehead is the furled frond of a young fern. It is largely ornamental and can be eaten as a side dish, but if it were left on the plant to

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Jen Arendt’s reflection, “A Whisper in the Wind.” As I sit in stillness in the sweet little oasis that I call my backyard, I am filled with joy to share the stirrings of my tender, grateful heart. Being outside, in God’s creation, has a magical way of calling forth the deepest parts of my being. It’s as if I truly come alive…it’s where I am most at ease welcoming even the parts of me that are not

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