I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Susan O’Connell’s reflection “Listening and contemplation.” Listening to the silence is truly one of the great spiritual practices, in which we tune into a deeper level of being and of experience. Silence in nature can facilitate that deeper connection to ourselves through allowing us to listen more deeply to our hearts and bodies. Nature or wilderness can provide a holding environment so that we can relax the ways we chronically constrict ourselves. (Hutton, 2003, p. 250) Having an affinity for communication and service, it came

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Mary Thomason-Smith’s reflection on the homily of birdsong. All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres—Maltbie D. Babcock Stepping on my deck for a deep, belly breath full of fresh air, the tranquility of an Indiana summer morning invites me to stillness, to receive the peaceful offerings of dawn.  Green morning glory vines noodle their way through the wooden rails and posts that frame my space for prayer.  A rabbit nibbles on clover just beyond the

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Adam Brooks Webber’s reflection on dancing with the sunrise. I gather my weapons. No one else in the house is awake yet, save only the cat, and he’s too concerned now with the contents of his dish to pay any further attention to me. I ease the back door open and slip outside. The dew on the back steps chills my bare feet. The neighboring cottages are quiet, and there’s no one in sight. Good. I’d just as soon not be seen. With

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Anne Knorr’s reflection on reconnecting with the cycles of the Earth. The other night my husband and I hiked up to one of our favorite spots in the foothills of Boulder, Colorado we affectionately call the Moon Rock.  Our neighbors joined us on the 45-minute trek up the hill with picnic dinners and headlamps in tow.  Hiking to watch the moonrise is a ritual we happened onto several years ago when the full moon coincided with my birthday and my

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Theresa Walker’s reflection on waiting, letting go, and opening to creative gifts. Years ago, I waited anxiously to see if I would get the job I had interviewed for. I wanted the job very much. At last my interviewer called and said, “I’m sorry, but I still can’t give you an answer.” My spirits plummeted. Disappointment, anxiety, and a worrisome desire to achieve my goal gripped me. That night I dreamed a woman stood in front of me holding a baby. I reached out my

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Shawn Kafader’s reflection on monastic service and retreat: I have felt the sense of God’s presence since the earliest memories of my life. As a child I loved to attend church, listen to the stories of the Bible, and share time with God in prayer. By the time I was a teen I knew that I would offer my life to God in some form of vocational ministry. Not always the smoothest of journeys, I can look back knowing that every

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Heather van Warden’s reflection on the many ways of hearing God: To be fully receptive to God,  we actually need to use all five of our senses.  We receive God not only in “hearing” with our ears, but by feeling, smelling, tasting, and seeing our Maker…and then, by combining all those senses into the true receiving of our Lord.  While I think we all need to receive God in this way, I believe that God communicates with each of us, in the