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Reflections

Category: Monk in the World Guest Post Series

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Jill Ore

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Jill Ore’s reflection and poem on the contemplative practice of restoring a lighthouse. An offshore lighthouse provides the perfect place, space, and atmosphere for cultivating a contemplative practice. Set apart from the world, this century-old structure echoes timeless monasterial themes. Silence and solitude supply the fertile ground for exploring and tending the light within. Daily housekeeping chores and the physical labor of restoration work, accomplished by climbing endless flights of endless stairs, could be viewed as drudgery. Instead, these duties offer a glimpse

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Jean Wise

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to our Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Jean Wise’s reflection Linger with the Questions. For Christmas, my daughter gave me an online subscription to a story sharing software program. This package includes weekly story prompts for the recipient to respond and share a story from their life. At the end of the year, we would receive a hardcover book with all the stories collected in a legacy, keepsake compilation. Each Monday a thought-provoking, memory-stirring question pops into my email. What was your dad like

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Andrew Lang

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to our Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Andrew Lang’s reflection Opening our Posture to the Sacrament of the Present Moment. I sat atop the rocky Washington beach, watching the waves of the Puget Sound coming and crashing against the shoreline. Somewhere in the distance, a small boat had just steered itself through the passage, making its way to who knows where. The memory is faded by now, but I like to think it was the Victoria Clipper on its twice-daily trip, carrying people up

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Valerie Hess

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series. Read on for Valerie Hess’s reflection on living fully as who God created her to be. Breathe. Breathe again. Stop. Look. Listen. Pay attention. You are in liminal space. Breathe. This battle is not for you to fight; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf (see 2 Chronicles 20:17). These are words I say to myself when I find myself “ramping up” into anxiety or multi-tasking overdrive as I try to reign in internal chaos

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Callie J. Smith

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Callie J. Smith’s reflection Pausing with Whatever. The titles on my bookshelves don’t fully reveal what those shelves or their books actually hold. Because I have the habit of tucking notes into my books for safekeeping, I never quite know what will fall out when I open a book. Not a great organizational method for my correspondence, this tucking away of notes into books has no less developed into something quite meaningful for me. Opening books and

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Liz Hill

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to our Monk in the World guest post from the community. Read on for Liz Hill’s reflection “When Life Sends You Dancers.” Several years ago, I felt called to go on a vision quest, a personal journey that would provide solitude in nature along with a physical challenge to improve my confidence. After signing up for a journey, I was excited to receive a packet with logistics and instructions about what to bring for three days alone outdoors in the Green Mountains of Vermont. The instructions included suggestions for pre-trip reading as

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Susan Johnson

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Susan Johnson’s reflection and poem “Liturgy of the Hours.” During one of Christine’s online retreats, we were invited to create our own Liturgy of the Hours. I believe that retreat was in 2020, and since that time, the following prayers have become a centerpiece of my every day. Upon awakening, I pray Lauds, and every three hours my phone alarm reminds me to continue the prayers, leading me finally to Compline. Then Matins soothes me in the

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