I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read of for Mary Van Denend’s post “Girls in the Trees.” My granddaughters are playing “jungle,” scrambling up branches as high as they dare go, in a leafy playground tree, fat as a hot air balloon.  We’ve exhausted the slides, the swings, the merry-go-round, the balance beams, and me. It’s only April but the day has turned unseasonably warm.  The tree’s shade offers coolness. Lucia, the youngest, screeches from her perch in a red and purple peasant dress we just purchased at

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Anne Marie Walsh’s reflection, “Deep Within.” Silent retreats, generally considered “time apart”, also point a way for me to be contemplative in the world moment to moment. Sometimes I arrive in exhaustion, feeling there is no time even for this retreat, what was I thinking, how on earth is this going to help? But allowing the sure footedness of the decision to come, now after many such retreats, I know it is a great gift to enter

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Beverly Dame’s reflection on living by and leaving the river. For five years, I lived on the bank of a small Canadian river.  For someone who had always been a city-dweller even as a child, it was rather like being at camp twelve months a year. The river’s calm waters led us to name our cottage “Stillwaters” because like the psalmist God had led us to them. The seasons were read on the face of the river.

I’m delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World Guest Post Series from the community. Read on for Michelle Kobriger’s reflection on the artist and beginning again. Winter came on hard and fast this year, the colorful autumnal display fading quickly to brown. Days of wind and rain stripped the trees, carpeting my favorite woodsy trail in a thick layer of crunchy leaves. Tromping down the path a day after heavy rains, showers of acorns plopped to the ground like fat raindrops as squirrels scurried to gather the bountiful harvest. I don’t know what it would

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Michele Chung’s reflection “Discovering the Joy of God.” “I tend to be somewhat melancholy, which means I usually see the glass as half empty rather than half full. When I’m alone, the negative emotions often rise to the surface. This personality trait has been a challenge in my contemplative practices. The more time I spend in solitude and introspection, the easier it is for me to sink into my negativity. Recently, my exercise app challenged me to

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Elaine Breckenridge’s reflection on letting go of climbing and searching. “In 2007, I climbed a mountain on Inis Mor, one of the Aran Islands off the coast of Ireland.Well, it was really a hill but it might as well have been a mountain. The goal of the climb was to visit a tiny little hermitage perched on top. Called the Teampall Bheanain, it is reputedly the smallest church in Ireland. It dates from about the 7th century. From

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Katy Taylor’s reflection on presence practices. Growing up in a family that put a lot of value on work, in combination with being an Enneagram type One, I have had to consciously practice in order to learn to slow down to the pace of nature, of my body, of the seasons… For many years, while I loved how I felt in nature, when resting, at ease, or in meditation, it’s been a big challenge to prioritize this