I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Barb Morris’ reflection emptiness. “To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, subtract things every day.” So says the Chinese prophet Lao Tzu, writing 500 years before Jesus. Maybe it’s my advancing middle age, but the spiritual practice of welcoming emptiness has become more and more necessary to me. As Lao Tzu prescribes, I find myself, after decades of adding things to my life, subtracting in order to find Wisdom. I’m especially drawn to emptiness this Advent – this

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for John Paul Lichon’s reflection entitled, Discipline. Let’s be honest, I am not a very disciplined person.  Pulling all-nighters to write papers in college was a regular ritual, it took several unfortunate cavities to convince me it was essential to floss every day, and anyone close to me can tell you that I often have insatiable cravings for McDonald’s double cheeseburgers.  Thankfully, over the years all three of these unhealthy tendencies have drastically declined in frequency, but I think these habits illustrate

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Jessica Curtis’ reflection Metaphors as Messages. Poetry has long been part of my spiritual practice. I especially love metaphors and have begun noticing places where they show up in my life other than poetry. At church recently, the minister was talking about the idea that we come into this world with an inheritance. He referred to this inheritance as taking the form of a “blessing bundle” and a “burden bundle.” The goal over the course of a lifetime is to

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Peggy Acott’s reflection on holding space. How do I live as a monk in the world? This reminded me of a recent writing prompt by Krista Tippett of On Being, that came to me by way of Jeffrey Davis and Tracking Wonder’s Quest2017 – #yourtruecalling: What is your vocation, your sense of callings as a human being at this point in your life, both in and beyond job and title? My initial response to Krista Tippett’s question was that of a

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Rich Lewis’ reflection on Quaker Silence and Won Buddhist Temple Worship. God offers us both rich and diverse contemplative practices.  Let me share two diverse contemplative experiences:  Quaker Silence and Won Buddhist Temple Worship. Quaker Silence In March of 2014 I decided to experience a Quaker silent service.  The church I attended traced its roots back to 1699.  The meeting house I sat in was built in 1823.  The service had no minister.  I sat in silence with 100 others.  We

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Abigail Carroll’s reflection Poetry as Sabbath. Sundays in my family as a child were for church, waffles and maple syrup, and enjoying the outdoors or helping out with house projects. In short, celebrating the Sabbath was about worship, food, nature, and family. Today, Sabbath continues to mean each of these things to me, but more recently, it has come to mean something else, too: poetry. When God rested on the seventh day after creating the world, I think he was doing

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Jamie Marich’s reflection Dancing Mindfully with the Elements. The invitation to pray and meditate with the elements is fully awakened in my life. I credit much of this awakening to Christine and learning from her sacred work with Abbey of the Arts. Diving in to the various exercises in Christine’s books and retreats has heightened my attunement to the elements in the various places that I travel. My own mindful journey and contemplative practices in mindfulness traditions assists in this deepening of