Dana Reynolds is the wise and gracious presence behind Sacred Life Arts and offers so many amazing resources at her site which are in such harmony with the Abbey’s mission. So it was an absolute delight to have the opportunity to be interviewed by Dana. Abbey of the Arts is also the featured resource for the month of August! Stop by her site to see the post or listen to the interview below.  It is about 50 minutes long, so pour a cup of tea and listen for while.  Then make sure to peruse Dana’s other wonderful resources. [audio:http://www.mediafire.com/?o97uus9be0o1raz] Previous Virtual

June Mears Driedger has interviewed me over at her blog.  Stop by to read and leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom. Here is an excerpt: The title of your book is “The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom.” Intriguing title—but what do monks have to do with artists? Monasteries have been great centers of creativity since they were first formed – think of the beauty of Gregorian chant, the great illuminated manuscripts which bring text to life through a marriage with

I am delighted to share the latest review of The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom at the wonderful site Spirituality and Practice.  Here is a brief excerpt: Evidencing the same creative flair we saw in her book of spiritual insights into the elements, Paintner has now fashioned a twelve-week journey on the interplay between creativity, the contemplative path, and monastic wisdom. . . Paintner wants us to experience the joys of our inner monk and artist. These two parts of ourselves share a capacity for seeing the world beyond surface appearances; nourishing wonder, awe, and holy

Liz Massey at Creative Liberty interviewed me about a year ago and now offers a great review of The Artist’s Rule.  Here is an excerpt: Christine is a master at using texts from other wisdom traditions beyond Christianity to explain the point she is trying to make in each chapter. This broadens the audience that will benefit from this book considerably. It also reinforces a key element in Benedictine thinking, which is to engage the stranger (the person who is not necessarily a member of the same church or subscribes to the same philosophy as the oblate) as a person

Nathan Rosquist is a member of the Art Monastery, which is a wonderful project based in Italy of artists living together in community exploring what it means to be an Art Monk.  He also blogs at Otherhood where he writes about monasticism and art (yes, my favorite topics).  Nathan was so gracious in inviting me to talk with him about my new book The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom, and our shared passions of creativity and contemplation.  Stop by his post for an interview (about a half hour long).  Leave a comment at his blog for a

If you deal with chronic illness or know someone who does, consider joining Benedictine oblate Judy Smoot this summer to form an online community to explore the ways monastic spirituality can support the journey. . . *If you are interested in joining this program, please register soon so that we can determine if we have enough participants to move ahead* This 8-week online course facilitated by Judy Smoot, OblSB , offers participants an opportunity to share with others who live with chronic disease or who support someone with chronic disease. Some illnesses bring little long-term disruption to life.  We may

Archetypes are symbols or patterns which appear across cultures.  We find them in the great myths and stories of religious traditions, we find them in our nighttime dreams.  They are active within each of us as a multiplicity of energies which we can draw upon.  When we are living from a place of balance and fullness we have access to more dimensions of ourselves.  Most of us tend to identify with a few dominant archetypes.  Maybe you find a powerful sense of life purpose in caring for others and identify more with the Mother archetype.  Maybe your story carries a lot of abandonment and you