Monk in the World Guest Post: JoRene Byers
I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for JoRene Byers’s reflection and poem “New Moon, Beloved Darkness”. I wrote this poem after setting aside time to prayfully gather the beautiful symbolic elements, and lighting the candles in a sacred manner for the mandala. Every step is taken with gentle awareness: asking first, giving thanks, offering the beauty and fragrance of the incense of herbs, spices, flowers, fruit, and flame. The generosity of the more than human world always humbles and comforts me. This gathering returns me to