I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Edith Ó Nualláin’s reflections about mindful writing as spiritual practice:   Mindful Writing as a Spiritual Practice Like many seekers who set out on a spiritual pilgrimage, I discovered that journaling as a spiritual practice took me to places only the written word could go. It was as if the word, my word, was the way, like a finger pointing to the moon. Falling in love first with those writers who penned their spiritual autobiographies, sharing the tales of their

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Bryan Berghoef’s wisdom on finding your inner monk outside the boxes of your calendar: Letting Go of the Schedule “A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” ~Lao-Tzu My usual mode of operation involves a certain amount of busyness. True for all of us, no doubt! We have a schedule. Appointments to keep. A certain amount of anxiousness occurs as we drive to the meeting or hop on the subway to arrive on time. Preferably we’ll

We welcome you to submit your reflection for possible publication in our Monk in the World guest post series. It is a gift to read how ordinary people are living lives of depth and meaning in the midst of the challenges of real life. There are so many talented writers and artists in this Abbey community, so this is a chance to share your perspective. The reflection will be included in our weekly newsletter which goes out to more than 9000 subscribers. Please follow these instructions carefully: Details: Please click this link to read a selection of the posts and get a feel for the

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Elysha O’Brien’s wisdom on living contemplatively in the chaos: We are a People of Pattern It is morning. The children have been sent out the door and the downstairs neighbor’s dog begins to howl and cry and yip. My day has already started with noise and chaos and it will take everything in my power to rein it back. But the dog… the dog with his high pitched bark and relentless cry, telling the world his saga of agony and abandonment.

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Deborah Svec’s wisdom on remembering who she is: Retreat to Remember Being more fully present to “ordinary” life requires a retreat from the everyday from time to time.  With a circle of women, I make a pilgrimage to the mountains, where I can remember who I am and see more clearly my place in the larger world.  This year was our fourth trip to the mountains for a week-long spiritual retreat. Rather than sitting and looking out at the landscape for

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Alicia Dykstra’s wisdom on the gifts of being a “grazer”: Grazing People often say you are what you eat. I never took that too literally, but at one point it occurred to me that the saying is true at many different levels. As a monk in the world we are called to pay attention, so I thought this all through some more and tried to figure out what God was trying to tell me. I love to graze and nibble snacks

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Alexander Gilchrist’s wisdom about finding contemplative moments on the commuter train: As much as we complain about the service, the trains generally run on time. That means the express train to New York’s Grand Central Terminal is going to be pulling into my station around 6:21 a.m. and pulling out at 6:23 a.m. – whether I’m on it or not. That dependability has sometimes forced me to sprint through the parking lot like a 50-plus year old schoolboy in order to