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

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Geralyn Farley’s reflection on Beauty Surprises: “Sunday was one of those memorable, picture perfect days, one where I would normally have camera in hand or watercolors and brushes close by. But on that day, I decided to challenge myself to take none of that with me. Freedom was mine to enjoy the moment, to savor the experience, to live fully through all of my senses. Overcome by the shear beauty of this event, I did decide to paint a picture and take a photo…with

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Beth Fritsch’s reflection on Going into Garberville: Recently while on a silent seven-day retreat at the Cistercian Redwoods Monastery in Whitethorn, CA , I had a strong urge on the afternoon of day four to take myself into Garberville to enjoy an artist’s date in this quaint town nestled on the Lost Coast.  The more I thought about it the night before, the better I liked the idea too.  I found myself chanting soothingly, “I am going into Garberville.”  Before setting out for

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Irvin Boudreaux’s reflection on thin places: “Conceptually, I have known of “thin places” for a number of years but never really gave it a whole lot of thought. Thin places, like many other Celtic traditions, hold a certain mystical fascination for me. The Celts developed this sort of thinking before the long arm of western Christianity invaded their world. Simply put, a thin place was and is just that, a physical location where the separation between the divine and the earth is

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Karen Johnston’s reflection on the chapel of the heart: “I welcome silence. It is a quiet cushion in between everything that captures gentle fluidity. It’s where I become satisfied with the riches of nothing and wear the jewels of the empty. It’s where magnificent infinity is amplified and my awareness becomes keen to truth. Yet, oddly, it is a villain who has escorted me into this great simplicity. The noisy world has forced me to know my truest self. The

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Naomi Kelly’s reflection on lessons from a contemplative walk: “Earlier this summer, my friend and I embarked on a series of contemplative walks in the Adirondack mountains of Upstate New York that she called “Yoga Hikes.” While scoping out some new trails, we visited a small creek near Whetstone Gulf State Park.  At first, the creek’s wide banks were inviting us to walk along and enjoy the vegetation.  There were – birds feet, timothy and clover, the types of grass