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Category: Monk in the World Guest Post Series

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Monk in the World guest post: Cyndi Gallo Callan

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Cyndi Gallo Callan’s wisdom about what matters most: Prior to Thanksgiving I began thinking about Advent and how I would embrace the season; it always passes so quickly.  Instead of how I thought Advent would be embraced, I found myself reflecting on the theme living as a monk in the world, what it meant in my life, and for those around me.  The reflections moved through me like tidal currents. It was obvious that the Holy Spirit settled within me, as my

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Monk in the World guest post: Morgana Morgaine

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Morgana Morgaine’s wisdom on becoming a Holy Fool: A Monk in the World, Holy Fool in Training! I most closely identify with and revere the monk as Holy Fool.  Holy Fool is a bit of a maverick, well, more than a little! She/he is most likely to be irreverently reverent, using laughter as a way to delight in everyday experience. St. Francis of Assisi who is credited with saying:  “I hung upside down so that I could see the world as it

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Monk in the World guest post: DG Hollums

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for DG Hollums’ wisdom on seeing the world more deeply: I’ve always been an outgoing extrovert. My soul is filled up by being around others and enjoying the smiles and love of others around me. As a child I was passionately quick to love and really did not know a stranger. I was always the one that would hug others. Even those who did not “appreciate” hugs, I would make a B-line for them just to make sure they knew that they

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Monk in the World guest post: Carolyn Ash

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Carolyn Ash’s wisdom about gardening and the gift of weeds: My Garden, My Monastery A day in my Southern California garden sparkles with peace, quiet, calm. Turning soil, tending plants, spraying a bit of water eases my spirit, energizes my body, and creates space in my mind. Repeated motions become a mantra for my hands and body. The mundane becomes sacred: sifting arid soil through my fingers, pulling weeds, feeling the heft of my tools, noticing earthy things with fresh vision. My

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Monk in the World guest post: Asther Bascuna-Creo

This week in our Monk in the World guest post series we have two beautiful poems from fellow monk and artist Asther Bascuna-Creo who lives in Australia. Read on for her wisdom about silence and the contemplative path: Silence And in her middle years she discovers silence. Not the kind you find In a remote abbey nor on a grand cathedral, Not the type you seek in silent retreats nor in places of meditation. But the sitting down in the kitchen bench type The standing in front of the stovetop type The folding the week’s washing type While dinner sizzles over

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Monk in the World guest post: Hana Truscott

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Hana Truscott’s wisdom about showing up in the world and where it has taken her: REFLECTION “Ten thousand hours felt like ten thousand hands. Ten thousand hands, they carry me.” My monk in the world mantra is “show up.” The more hours I show up for my daily practice of being a monk in the world, the more my “monkness” carries into other facets of life. I was recently inspired by the lyrics above from the song 10,000 Hours by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

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Monk in the World guest post: Kevin Peterson

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Kevin Peterson’s wisdom about practicing the presence of God in the tasks of daily life: Being a monk in the world…what does that mean to me? When Christine asked me to consider writing about being “a monk in the world” I was at once excited and apprehensive. What do I have to offer to this tremendous conversation on the contemplative life that wouldn’t be better said from someone else?  What could I possibly say that would be profound or inspiring? I looked

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