I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read of for Jamie Marich’s reflection “Jerusalem.” I can fit the old city In the palm of my hand From where I stand On the Mt. of Olives Oh, Jerusalem— The vision of what Spirituality could be And yet religion divides you Religion causes war Religion tears people to shreds Because everyone believes Their word to be the holiest Yet as I hold Jerusalem In the palm of my hand I know that the Holy of Holies Lives inside of me

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Kathryn Coneway’s reflection on being a monk and artist. I want to start living like a monk… quiet, listening feeling patterns – from the drum of heartbeat to the timber of voice and the cadence of speech Waking early becomes less a chore and more a sacred rhythm The dog’s eager animal companionship guides me to a friend for the journey to move, to begin, to be aware in the pre-dawn hours. A moving into the world rather

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Heidi Marshburn Massey’s reflection on contradictions. For me to be a monk in the world means to take contradictory paths,  the chaos of the work world that surrounds me, marrying it with the stillness and the quiet  that my heart longs for. Daily I remind myself to allow the latter rule the former. I am learning in the middle of the day, in the midst of busyness, in the swirling never ending emergencies I am faced with, to

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Elaine Pope’s reflection “Whole.” John Wesley used the expression “going on to perfection.” For him, that meant growing more and more able to love God and love people as Jesus did (1 John 4:12). Christine Valters Painter signs her reflections, “with great and growing love.” I love that phrase, for it sums up for me what a monk in the world’s spiritual journey is all about, learning to love more: more deeply, more authentically, more people, oneself

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post from the community. Read on for Angela Taylor’s reflection on finding the light to share. Today I am appreciating the cooler air and full change of autumn. Coolness in contrast to the heavy heat of late summer is allowing me to breathe a little deeper. These seasonal changes assist a movement within my soul. When I bring my awareness to what each season is speaking, my eye then turns inside to discern if my soul is mirroring the outside changes or in tension with

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World Guest Post series from the community. Read on for Michelle Lisenbee’s reflection on caring for chickens as spiritual practice. I live in the Mid-Atlantic. Our summers tend to be very warm and very humid. Not like, jungle humid, but sometimes it feels pretty darn close. One Sunday morning, in late July of 2017, I opened the door to feel blessed coolness. It had been in the high nineties all week. This morning, it was only in the seventies and the usual humidity was absent. I knew it

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 on artistic wounds. I like the idea of the expressive arts, as long as it doesn’t mean using my hands to create in conventional ways. Give me a pencil to draw, or a brush to paint, even a magazine and a glue stick and I freeze. Over the years at conferences when I see the arts and crafts table set up for the “right brain activity,” something inside of me dies again. I have been