I received my copy of “Listen” today which is a free publication of Spiritual Directors International.  My book The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom received a lovely review.  Here is an excerpt: In The Artist’s Rule, the familiar subjects of creativity and spirituality explode into a kaleidoscope of connections that invite the reader into the borderland where these topics converge. Grounded in scholarly knowledge, the book quotes Scriptures, theologians, mystics, psychologists, artists, poets, and others, yet it reads like a stimulating conversation with a soul friend. To read the whole review, here is the PDF>> Consider joining me

Beth Patterson at Virtual Tea House offered to write this guest post for the Abbey in support of a new book being published (see below).  I am delighted to host her words here.  Last Christmas I had what felt very much like my own near death experience (or NDE as Beth writes) and I am very intrigued by the qualities common to folks who touch their own mortality in such an intimate way.  I am also drawn to her story because of the wisdom she expresses from her grandmother and my own deep appreciation for what our ancestors offer to us.

Last week’s Poetry Party was another shimmering gathering of poetic beauty.  If you haven’t yet, make sure to stop by and see the offerings.  You are still welcome to share a poem in response to the prompt but it is time for me to announce the winner of the random drawing. . . Genora Powell has won a free registration spot in my upcoming online retreat Honoring Saints & Ancestors: Peering through the Veil (October 30-November 19, 2011).  Contact me with your email address and I will get you registered (or you can gift a friend).

Are you in need of a holy pause this week?  A few moments of poetic beauty and refreshment?  Then I encourage you to pour yourself a cup of tea and stop by here to linger over the incredible responses to this week’s prompt about “going home.”  You might be with the poems in a lectio way of reading until a line shimmers for you, than pausing there and letting the word or phrase wash over your being until your heart responds. Then share your own poem because on Sunday, September 25th, I will draw a name at random from the

Rachelle, the wonderful host over at Magpie Girl, seeks to help people find their own right-fit spiritual practice which sometimes means “dancing in the overlap.”  She invited me to write about my own hybird and place of fertile border-crossing between being a monk rooted in Christian tradition and a yogini. Make sure to stop by her post for a chance to win copies of my two newest books – Lectio Divina – transforming words and images into heart-centered prayer and The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom. One of the things I love about yoga is how parallel its principles  are

The wonderful site Spirituality and Practice offers a review of Lectio Divina: Transforming Words and Images into Heart-Centered Prayer: In this paperback, her focus is on the encounters with God that can take place with the spiritual practice of lectio divina, which means “divine reading.” Paintner states: “[It] is not an analytic or a linear practice, but a practice of the heart that brings integration and meaning to our lives.” . . . Paintner makes an excellent guide through the foundational spiritual practice of lectio divina. Click here to read the whole review>>

As part of the Patheos Book Club, Through a Glass Onion has posted a great review of The Artist’s Rule: Paintner’s book is written as a 12-week journey that shares the wisdom of monastic practice, especially Benedictine—of which Paintner is an oblate. It is a book meant to be read as part of one’s creative journey. The difficulty in reviewing Paintner’s book is that I didn’t have twelve weeks to sit with it, absorb it, learn from it, and put it into practice. In fact, I didn’t even have twelve days. But, I didn’t need twelve days, weeks, or months to find