We are delighted to continue our practice of invitations into lectio divina, photography, poetry, and dance each month around a given theme. Join the Conversation: You are invited to join the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks Facebook page as a place to participate or in the comments below each blog post as they appear. Below is a look ahead at the weekly themes. All are welcome to participate. Winter-Spring 2014 Community Invitations January 5: Community Lectio Divina January 12: Invitation to Photography January 19: Invitation to Poetry January 26: Invitation to Dance February 2: Community Lectio Divina February 9: Invitation to

Amy Evans is the winner of a copy of Mary Sharratt’s novel about Hildegard of Bingen. Amy, please email me with your mailing address.

On Monday I shared Ken Peterson’s monk in the world guest post and there was a drawing included for a free copy of his new book Prayer as Night Falls: Experiencing Compline.  The lucky winner is Pacia Dixon!  Pacia, send me your snail mail and we will arrange for your copy to be sent out.

NEW 8th principle of the Monk Manifesto: *I commit to being a dancing monk, cultivating creative joy and letting my body and “heart overflow with the inexpressible delights of love.”* And here is the revised version of the Monk Manifesto video with the 8th principle included: Monk Manifesto Meditation (8 Principles for being a Monk in the World) from Christine Valters Paintner on Vimeo.

At the Abbey this fall we have weekly invitations to lectio divina, photography, poetry, and dance on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sundays respectively.  With a 5th Sunday this month, I am inviting you to allow this week to be a chance to revisit some of the previous invitations and savor what has been shared there, as well as your own unfolding response to the “Call to Newness” we have been exploring. Consider stopping by these posts and see what newness is stirred: Community Lectio Divina Isaiah 42:6-10 Invitation to Photography: Call to Newness Invitation to Poetry: Call to Newness

To receive this love note straight to your in-box, subscribe here (and also receive a free gift!) Invite Wonder What if you bowed before every dandelion you met and wrote love letters to squirrels and pigeons who crossed your path? What if scrubbing the dishes became an act of single reverence for the gift of being washed clean, and what if the rhythmic percussion of chopping carrots became the drumbeat of your dance? What if you stepped into the shower each morning only to be baptized anew and sent forth to serve the grocery bagger, the bank teller, and the bus

To receive this love note straight to your in-box, subscribe here (and also receive a free gift!) King Solomon made himself an enclosed litter of wood from Lebanon. He made its columns of silver, its roof of gold, Its seat of purple cloth, its interior lovingly fitted. —Song of Songs 3:9-10 Dearest monks and artists, I have mentioned before that my husband and I practice lectio divina together and we have slowly been working our way through the Song of Songs together, praying with just a couple of verses at a time in a practice of lectio continua. Several weeks